Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Cathaoirleach for selecting this matter, which is the issue of child pornography and child abuse material, and ensuring that we introduce controls in the area. This has come to the fore following Prime Minister Cameron's speech yesterday in the UK. It has been discussed previously in this House. He addressed many issues yesterday. The Minister for Justice and Equality agreed in this House to do what he can to ensure that our obligations under the directive on combatting sexual exploitation of children are implemented. I understand that he is engaging with Internet service providers so that we can get to the position where such material can be blocked.

It is a very serious issue. Every image of a child that we see in such a situation is a crime. Anybody who looks at such images is perpetrating a crime. The enormous growth of the Internet and its potential has certainly added to this. It has probably not got much attention until recently, but it was addressed by the UK Prime Minister yesterday. We need to see action on it and we await the Minister's statement as to how he proposes to proceed in that area.

The issue of obnoxious or extreme pornography and violence and simulated rape situations was also raised. I understand that such material is blocked in this jurisdiction, whereas it has not been blocked in the UK for technical reasons. Legal pornography should also be restricted. My generation would know of the likes of Playboy , adult movies and the 9 p.m. watershed on television, but such material is also on the Internet and there are no restrictions on it. It is available to children at home on their laptops, iPads and PCs. We can only begin to imagine the potential. Children are vulnerable. They need to be protected in their formative years, because pornographic images such as these can actually distort their view of a sexual relationship. It can be very difficult for them. It should not happen and we should control it.

The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources said on the radio today that this issue had not been raised with him before in this House. It has been raised with the Minister for Justice and Equality, but I do not know if it has been raised directly with Deputy Rabbitte. I know that Deputy Shatter said he would take the matter on board. We clearly need to see action to ensure that issues such as adult pornography, which should only be available for adults, are filtered so that they can be controlled. There has been criticism of filters and any tech savvy child can get around it, but it is not a defence to throw our hands up in the air. We want to try to avoid the situation where a child casually scanning different Internet sites comes across this material accidentally. We also need to educate parents who are not aware of it. They are not tech savvy like their children, unless they have high levels of skill themselves. They can be completely unaware of what their children are being exposed to.

The UK Prime Minister, in consultation with Internet service providers, is proposing a filter that would block this material permanently and if adults want to access such material, they can request that the filtering mechanism be turned off. That sounds like a very reasonable and sensible approach. He is also proposing that public WiFi be family friendly and that logos can claim that the WiFi in a particular area is family friendly.

We need to move on this issue. The growth of pornography on the Internet is continuing. It is racing ahead of all of us. Like anything, when we put something in place, we have to jump higher again. We need to engage with the service providers and ensure that they live up to their huge responsibility in this area. Ultimately, people look to the Government and legislators to raise awareness and to discuss how we can implement protection measures for our vulnerable children.