Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)

Two incredibly disturbing cases this week have further highlighted the dangers that children face on social media. Alexander McCartney spent years grooming children, mainly on Snapchat, before abusing them. He was jailed in the North last year but a review of the case found he was free to continue to use the Internet and abuse children online while on bail. One of those children, twelve-year-old Cimarron Thomas, died by suicide during that period. In a separate case, a man was jailed in Dublin yesterday for the rape of two children, one of whom was just ten, after he met and groomed them, also on Snapchat. Snapchat, like other social media platforms, is supposed to have a minimum age requirement of 13.

Children engage with the online space differently than we do, but the laws and policies we expect in real life are not replicated online in any way that meets similar standards of safety. Social media companies must be regulated, but it is not just a legal framework alone that is required. We need to empower regulators and the Garda so there is adequate enforcement of those laws.

The last time we had an exchange on this, the Tánaiste invited greater discussion, but can he tell me what active steps the Government is taking to improve enforcement specifically? Is he satisfied that bail conditions in this jurisdiction that require defendants to stay off the Internet are properly enforced?

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