Results 3,241-3,260 of 9,252 for speaker:Jim O'Callaghan

Written Answers — Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport: Light Rail Projects (15 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: 569. To ask the Minister for Transport, Tourism and Sport the number of incidents of vandalism on the Luas that have resulted in disruptions to services in 2019; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42212/19]

Family Law Bill 2019: Second Stage (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: As the Minister of State said, the purpose of this legislation is to give legislative effect to the constitutional amendment voted for by the Irish people in May this year. As the Leas-Cheann Comhairle is aware, the purpose of the amendment was to make a change to Article 41 of the Constitution by removing from it the specific period that required a couple to live apart for four of the...

Family Law Bill 2019: Committee and Remaining Stages (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: We will not be supporting the amendment. The people who voted last May knew the legislation that this Oireachtas was going to put forward if the amendment was carried. They voted overwhelmingly in favour of the change because they knew the Oireachtas would introduce legislation stating it would be two out of the previous three years. Had the public been informed at that time that there...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I thank our three guests for coming. It has been very helpful to hear from people who come at this complicated issue with independence and the public interest at heart. May I get an indication from all of them as to whether they agree that regulation needs to be increased through the enactment of laws by the Houses of the Oireachtas?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: With regard to increasing regulation, obviously, as Dr. McIntyre mentioned, we already have many laws in place such as those in place to deal with child pornography and incitement to hatred. Do the delegates think those laws need to be changed or should our primary objective be to try to ensure they are applied to what happens on the Internet?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: Is Dr. Aiken's primary concern and research area the protection of children?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: On the various types of harmful communications, everyone agrees that child pornography is a criminal offence and needs to be taken down from the Internet. Obviously,the children in the images are victims of sexual abuse and other children should not be exposed to looking at it. That is clear. However, there are other forms of harmful communication such as bullying. Is Dr. Aiken suggesting...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: We do not have a crime of bullying, but we do have an offence of harassment, as Dr. McIntyre mentioned. Perhaps part of the reason there has been delay on the part of the Garda in investigating and prosecuting online racial abuse is that the Act requires something to be happening persistently. It is an indication that the Act needs to be updated. A once-off activity or communication is not...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I agree with Dr. Aiken on the issue of child pornography. As legislators, it is probably easier for us to deal with something that everyone recognises is impermissible. It is already a criminal offence and we must protect children from it. However, we need to consider the problem of harmful communications more generally? What do the delegates consider to be harmful? People say they hate...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: It would be problematic to codify an offence of harmful communications in general. We need to come up with a definition of harmful communications for this module. Dr. McIntyre has outlined that he looked for a definition of harm in the Law Reform Commission's report, but did not find one. It may be that the commission experienced the same difficulty we will have and decided to identify...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: Yes.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: The law can intervene in a civil or criminal context. Criminal context is one thing but in the context of people having the ability to have certain information taken down, should the Oireachtas create laws that give a civil remedy to individuals to permit that, or should we leave it to the social media companies to have a self-regulatory system whereby somebody contacts a company, it makes...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I apologise for interrupting. Should the Oireachtas intervene and give a civil remedy to people so that they can have the capacity to go to a regulator or the courts to get material taken down, as opposed to doing it in the current system under which people apply to Facebook or some other company?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I know.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: While I agree with Dr. Aiken's point on extreme behaviour, why should somebody not be able to abuse me online?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I do not want to be abused but why should somebody not be allowed to abuse me?

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I agree with Dr. Aiken about that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality: Online Harassment and Harmful Communications: Discussion (Resumed) (16 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: I know I have gone on too long so I will ask a final question. We hear a great deal about hate speech. The law at present, the Prohibition of Incitement to Hatred Act, is that if one publishes material that is threatening, abusive or insulting, and it is likely to stir up hatred, that is an offence. Do we need to go beyond that for speech online?

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Commission on the Future of Policing Membership (22 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: 95. To ask the Taoiseach the members of the implementation group on policing reform; and the role of each on the group. [43249/19]

Written Answers — Department of An Taoiseach: Commission on the Future of Policing Membership (22 Oct 2019)

Jim O'Callaghan: 96. To ask the Taoiseach the level of involvement and engagement by his officials with the implementation group on policing reform. [43250/19]