Results 3,141-3,160 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 Senators. In terms of amendment No. 164 regarding a minimum age requirement for children, it is important to acknowledge that there is a very real issue with young children accessing online services that simply were not designed with them in mind. It is an issue that I am particularly aware of both as a parent of young children and as chair of the National Advisory Council for...

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

Catherine Martin: With regard to amendment No. 163, as I said, there is provision in section 139K of the 2009 Act specifically in respect of providers of video-sharing platform services. We know the coimisiún shall make online safety codes requiring those providers to comply with Article 9(1) of the revised directive, which has an extensive list of requirements, including the protections for children....

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

Catherine Martin: These amendments would require an coimisiún to have regard to a number of legislative instruments when designating a relevant online service to which online safety codes may be applied. Amendment No. 166 would appear to duplicate provisions already in law and, as such, I do not accept the amendment. As I stated earlier in this debate, section 42 of the Irish Human Rights and Equality...

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

Catherine Martin: Amendment No. 169 would have the effect of requiring coimisiún na meán to deposit a record of consultations undertaken prior to the designation of a relevant online service with the Minister and to lay it before the Houses of the Oireachtas. I understand amendment No. 71 sought to achieve a similar effect. As referenced by the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, in response to...

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

Catherine Martin: As I said in relation to the principle of transparency, when it comes to the making of the media service codes and rules and the online safety codes, they are subject to a clear public consultation process and must be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas so I see that transparency there. The regulator by its very nature must be able to engage on an ongoing basis with the entities it...

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

Catherine Martin: In compelling an coimisiún to make online safety codes, amendment No. 171 would have the effect of limiting the discretion of an coimisiún in when and how it exercises its regulatory duties through the creation of online safety codes. I refer to our debate yesterday, which was on the similar subject of media service codes. I reiterate that the purpose of establishing the...

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

Catherine Martin: I recognise the objective behind these amendments, which is to specify that an coimisiún may protect the health of children by regulating, through online safety codes, commercial communications relating to certain products, including foods high in fat, sugar, salt, as well as alcohol and gambling products. In this regard, I note that an coimisiún already has this power under the...

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

Catherine Martin: I still believe that we are dealing with different regulators. The use of personal data of children is subsection (3) of the amendment. It is worthy of attention and concern, but it is a matter for the Data Protection Commission. The regulator that we are setting up in this Bill deals with content regulation and not data protection. This is an issue for the Department of Justice and for...

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

Catherine Martin: I cannot accept this amendment. As I said previously, it would have the effect of limiting the discretion of an coimisiún in when and how it exercises regular duties through the creation of online safety codes. I have explained my reason for not accepting amendments of this kind in previous discussions around amendments grouped with amendments Nos. 133 and 171. I am not proposing to...

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

Catherine Martin: In the first instance, I would suggest that amendments Nos. 179 and 180 would be more appropriate to amending section 139M of the Bill, rather than amending section 139K. Amending section 139M already provides for a range of matters that an coimisiún must have regard to when preparing online safety codes. On the intention behind amendment No. 179 and, in the first instance, the...

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

Catherine Martin: Amendment No. 183a provides that an coimisiún should have an online safety code requiring that designated online services seek to minimise the risk of harm arising from the spread of disinformation. I do not propose to accept the amendment for a number of reasons.Regarding disinformation, this kind of content is being tackled, as has been acknowledged by the Senator, on an EU-wide basis...

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

Catherine Martin: To clarify, the purpose of the Bill is not to implement the DSA regulation in Irish law but, among other things, to create a regulatory framework for online safety and to establish a regulator to enforce that framework. The Government has decided, as I said, that coimisiún na meán will be the digital services co-ordinator under the DSA and that further legislation will be brought...

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

Catherine Martin: To clarify, an coimisiúin will not have a role in the investigation or prosecution of individuals for offences specified in the criminal code. That is the role of An Garda Síochána. The role of an coimisiún is to implement a regulatory framework to minimise the availability of online content by which those offences listed in Schedule 3 of the 2009 Act, as inserted by...

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) (25 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I thank the Senators for their proposed amendments. Amendments Nos. 123 and 125 would specifically insert references to substitutes for breast milk or milk-based formulae into section 46N(5). This would make explicit the power of coimisiún na meán to prohibit commercial communications relating to infant and follow-on formulae in the context of media service codes. I recognise the...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I thank the Senators for the points they have made. As set out in the Bill, I would expect that an coimisiún will have a strong role to play in providing for standards and practices to ensure that commercial communications protect the interests of the audience and, in particular, the interests of children. An coimisiún will do so through the making of binding media service codes....

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I thank the Leader for requesting this opportunity. As she said, amendment No. 106 was not discussed in the Chamber. This amendment raises an important issue. Conversion therapy is an abhorrent practice and the programme for Government contains a commitment to legislate to ban that therapy. My colleague, the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, Deputy...

Seanad: Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed) (25 May 2022)

Catherine Martin: I do not intend to accept any of these amendments. Amendment No. 110 provides that the media service codes made under section 46N shall be subject to approval by the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media. I cannot accept this amendment because it would represent undue interference in the regulatory independence of the commission. It is a key principle that the...