Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Yes. I am very surprised at this approach, a Chathaoirligh, because I wanted to draw attention to what this gentleman said about the Internet. He said that as well as being a tool of freedom and democracy, the Internet has the capacity to destroy civil society and cause unimaginable suffering. In that context, I support and draw the Leader's attention to the excellent intervention from Senator van Turnhout today on the issue of pornography and the media. There are two ways in which children are damaged by pornography in the media.

One is when children are depicted in such pornography, and it is frightening to think that 20% of Internet pornography relates to the abuse of children, as Senator van Turnhout has pointed out. The second way children are exploited is when they access inappropriate adult material. It seems quite scandalous and a real shame, to use Senator van Turnhout's word, that the Internet service providers of Ireland criticised the decision of UK counterparts to require customers to opt in before accessing such adult material. Senator van Turnhout has rightly pointed to the hypocrisy where they are quite willing to see access blocked when it comes to the infringement of copyright but they do not seem to have a sense of the wider public interest and the protection of the most vulnerable children in society.

I am disappointed that the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy Frances Fitzgerald, could not go so far as to even comment on whether there are similar plans to persuade Irish Internet service providers to adopt this British model. We had legislation last week concerning the introduction of gender quotas, with which I disagreed, but I recognise that people were trying to achieve some kind of social good by shaping the environment. Why do we lack courage when it comes to trying to shape the media and the Internet environment so as to protect children from accessing unacceptable material? This is an area in which we must act and be heard clearly in these Houses. I hope the Government will take a more courageous view on the issue in due course.