Results 13,821-13,840 of 17,543 for speaker:Helen McEntee

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: I will comment on amendments Nos. 1 and 2 initially. I do not believe that such a change is necessary or required because the Title, that is, Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill, encompasses most of what the Bill tries to do. Sometimes, if one gets too prescriptive, one does not widen the base but narrows it. Given the fact that this legislation is specific to...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: I understand know how sensitive an issue this is. I sincerely want to extend my sympathies to Nicole's family and to her mum, in particular, who, as the Deputy said, has campaigned for this tirelessly on the basis of what happened to her beautiful daughter. Unfortunately, having taken advice from the Attorney General on this, and for the many reasons the Deputy has alluded to, there are...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: I do not see why not. As I said, in terms of how this is presented, it is clear for many people where this is coming from, the intention behind it and the personal work that has been done over the past number of years. To reflect that is reasonable whether it is going through the House or in the commentary afterwards and as it is being enacted. Perhaps, therefore, there is a way we could...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: I move amendment No. 3: In page 3, between lines 15 and 16, to insert the following: “2. In this Act— “broadcast” has the meaning assigned to it by the Broadcasting Act 2009; “distribute” means distribute to the public or a section of the public; “intimate image”, in relation to a person, means any visual representation (including...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: Yes.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: Yes.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: That is covered under that section.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: It should do so. I will get absolute clarity on that for the Deputy but it does.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: My understanding is that it does not need to be specified because once one has the image, whether it is being kept or stored or not or whether it is being sent on, the offence has been created. It does not need to be defined in that sense because it is already there on the device.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: The section that is proposed to be inserted covers that by mentioning "any... digital representation" so any type of altering of images where there is a different head on a different body or any type of amendment to what was a real image suggesting that it is somebody else. It is covered within the definitions section.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: There is already precedent that where something is a criminal offence there is a legal requirement on the company to remove it. The fact that a lot of what we are talking about is not a criminal offence is where the problem lies but there is already an EU regulation from 2011 which clearly sets out a legal requirement for any of the platforms to remove what is illegal content.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: No. It is dealt with elsewhere in other legislation.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: This will be specifically dealt with in the online safety and media regulation Bill that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, Deputy Catherine Martin, is bringing forward. The onus is there when something is illegal and is brought to the attention of the authorities. My understanding is that even without a code of conduct, the social media platforms ask their...

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: Yes.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: The challenge with the amendments here is that we are proposing to delete this section. Perhaps this could be accepted on a later Stage.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: It is something I can look at before Report Stage. My intention is that, hopefully, we would take Report Stage pretty soon but that still allows time to look at the potential for this to be included as part of the new section that is being proposed. I need to follow up and check what the implications might be or any knock-on impact on legislation elsewhere.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: On amendment No. 8, the challenge is that the words “his or her” appear in the Bill numerous times so we are talking about quite a number of subsequent changes because of that, and it does not necessarily change the intent of the Bill or how the legislation will operate. That is probably the biggest challenge in that it has a knock-on impact on many other sections of the Bill....

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: I want to see if that would be possible in terms of just amending it at an earlier stage of the Bill. I will commit to look at that to see if it is possible, as I do not know. As I said, it has a knock-on impact on the rest of the Bill so I cannot give a commitment on it. I understand where the Deputy is coming from and the intention behind the amendment.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: I want to clarify what section we are dealing with.

Select Committee on Justice and Equality: Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill 2017: Committee Stage (1 Dec 2020)

Helen McEntee: Looking at the legislation that currently exists, the language in the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 is quite a strong definition of harassment that covers stalking as well. What we are trying to do here is strengthen that even further by amending this legislation so harassment is not just to a person but about a person, and where there is a particularly severe element, or...