Results 4,421-4,440 of 7,556 for speaker:Catherine Martin

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I thank the Senator for the amendment. The purpose of the Bill is not to prohibit the use of technologies by providers of designated online services and, accordingly, I cannot accept the amendment. The technologies referenced by this amendment have legitimate uses. In particular, the reference to “encryption backdoors” would appear to prohibit the use of any encryption which...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I wish to clarify for the Senator that videoconferencing is included in the Bill but it will not be covered by the Digital Services Act.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (26 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I note the points the Senator has made in respect of the Digital Services Act. As she will be aware, the Digital Services Act, which is a proposed regulation rather than a directive, of the EU, is currently under negotiation between the EU institutions. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is leading on this. The Digital Services Act, as a horizontal legislative instrument,...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I thank the Senator for her amendments. I cannot accept amendment No. 188 because, as a matter of principle, I cannot accept amendments that would unduly limit the discretion of the comisiún in the creation and maintenance of regulatory codes. However, the proposal in amendment No. 189 is a good one and while I reject the amendment today, I am considering the matter for Report Stage.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: It is important to note that not all online safety codes will apply to every designated online service. The designation of online services for regulation and the application of different online safety codes to them is based on assessments of risk. As such, requiring the provision of information from providers of designated online services of their compliance with all online safety codes...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I thank the Senators for their amendment. We agree that it is important that the Bill contains robust and proportionate powers of investigation and enforcement sufficient to ensure compliance with the online safety codes issued by an coimisiún. As the Senators will be aware, the Bill as initiated already provides for significant administrative financial sanctions in respect of a...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: As the Senator said, this is ground-breaking legislation. It represents the first steps to regulate user-generated online content. In establishing a whole new regulatory framework and regulator to enforce it, Coimisiún na Meán, the Bill lays a foundation that we can build on. There will be changes to the regulatory framework, driven by initiatives taken at EU level, for example,...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: They will not be in a position to share the advice but they will discuss the principles with the Senator.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: As I have said previously, it is not usual practice to lay internal records of processes and activities of public bodies before the Oireachtas, nor for the Oireachtas Library and Research Service to store such materials. As such, I do not see the value in doing so. Regarding the matter of the records of consultations, I again note that I understand the intention of the amendment is to...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I thank the Senator for tabling the amendment. The purpose of section 139X of the 2009 Act as inserted by the Bill is to require the comisiún to develop a strategy to ensure its compliance with the provisions of the e-commerce directive 2000 regarding the liability framework for intermediary service providers set out in that directive. The purpose of this provision does not relate to...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I acknowledge the importance of ensuring that the offence-specific category of harmful online content appropriately covers all online content that relates to the offence of assault. I understand that the intention of amendments Nos. 194a and 194b is to ensure that the use of "force" does not unintentionally exclude the non-contact application of such, for example, through online content. I...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: To be clear, the definition of "force" in the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 includes, as specified in section 2(2)(a) of that Act, "application of heat, light, electric current, noise or any other form of energy". I do not see a circumstance in which the matter raised by the Senator would not be covered.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I am confident of that.

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: On amendment No. 196, I do not see the value in inserting the word "reasonably" into the provision. The circumstances in which an authorised officer may use his or her powers are set down comprehensively in section 139ZC and are, among other things, subject to considerations of reasonableness. On amendment No. 197, section 139ZC clearly provides that an authorised officer cannot keep...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: Section 139ZC clearly provides than an authorised officer cannot keep material or equipment obtained in the course of an investigation in perpetuity and that during the course of an investigation the officer may keep such materials or equipment for such a period as deemed reasonably necessary. This discretion is proper and sufficiently drawn to mitigate against unnecessary retention of...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: First, I note that the indemnification of authorised officers is a standard and necessary legislative provision. In this regard, the proposed deletion of the relevant provision by amendment No. 200 is not something I can accept. What the provision does is to squarely place the legal responsibility for the actions of an authorised officer on coimisiún na meán, except where the...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: As regards amendment No. 202, I do not see the value of specifying a maximum timeframe of eight months for an authorised officer to draft the report of an investigation. The wording of the Bill at present is: "As soon as is practicable after the completion of an investigation, the authorised officer shall prepare a draft report of the investigation." In my view, this is sufficient to ensure...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: Section 139ZG of the 2009 Act, as inserted by this Bill, requires an coimisiún to publish guidelines made by it in respect of the operation of the enforcement provisions of the Bill. It is proper that an coimisiún should be subject to the same obligation in respect of rules made by it under section 139ZF regarding the conduct of investigations. Accordingly, I am rejecting the...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: While I understand the purpose of the amendment and that it is trying to mitigate against perceived delays to the execution of enforcement decisions, whether the granting of a judicial review should override or pause the application of a decision of an coimisiún is a matter for the courts. In relation to this matter, I note that section 38 of the 2009 Act, as inserted by the Bill,...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (31 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: If the Senator is a agreeable, I will get my officials to get back to her.