Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Our children are being systematically abused and we are letting it happen. It is a simple as that. We go on about the old days of this State where we allowed abuse in various institutions and tipped the hat to the church and allowed abuse to go on under the covers. We are doing the same thing now with social media. We are talking the talk but we are not walking the walk.

I have raised this issue multiple times and I am, to be quite honest, underwhelmed by the proposal to use the MyGovID scheme to try to restrict people going online. We should be going at this with a hammer and be even tougher than Australia. If we have to draw back, we can do so. We have to show the companies that we mean business.

As I said, our kids are being abused. I know of a 12-year-old on Roblox who was ostensibly talking to a 15-year-old. The child was sent an image of Roblox characters in different sexual positions. There is no nut to crack on Roblox. Facebook can have all sorts of scams. Instagram can send different reels, including some with dangerous content. There is no effective way to make the companies pay. The European Parliament called for an outright ban. The European Union has legislation coming forward, but we are not enforcing it. We should enforce it to the nth degree and then roll back gradually because we are in danger of losing our kids and social discourse. All around the world, various groups, as mentioned by other Members, have echo chambers. We have to have proper discourse. We need to ensure that this is permitted moving forward.

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