Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this issue.

We all accept that the web is one of the great innovations of our age. It has already brought huge benefits and has the potential to expand our knowledge in ways we could not have imagined only a few decades ago. Sadly, new innovations do not come with a guarantee against misuse. There are two distinct aspects of the Internet's evolution that concern us today and that arise from Senator Clune's contribution, the first being the fact that the web has long been used for the distribution of legal - if restricted - pornographic materials, and the second being around the entirely unacceptable practice of the web's use to circulate images of child abuse.

This latter issue has been the subject of a sustained and very substantial effort on the part of states all over the world, and with some success. For example, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Deputy Shatter, had the opportunity recently during the Irish Presidency of the EU to raise the need for enhanced international cooperation in tackling the dissemination of child pornography. The EU and the USA have initiated a global alliance against child sexual abuse on-line and I gather that this initiative is expected to develop quickly in the coming years. Moreover, discussions on the establishment of a structured arrangement for the blocking of access to websites containing child pornography are at an advanced stage.

The arrangement that is being discussed will entail close collaboration between the Garda and Internet service providers, ISPs. It will be based on a written agreement and procedures between the gardaí and individual ISPs. Under the proposed arrangement the gardaí will identify sites and, when satisfied that the material is child pornography and therefore illegal, they will notify the ISP of the sites in question. The ISP will then act in accordance with the agreed arrangements to block access to the site or sites. The Garda will have the benefit of its links with other police forces and the international policing organisations such as Interpol and Europol in seeking out and identifying sites. The arrangements about which I have spoken are in line with the provisions of EU Directive 2011/93 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, in particular Article 25 of that directive. Article 25 provides for measures against websites containing or disseminating child pornography. The first part of the article deals with the removal of web pages containing such material. In Ireland the hotline.ieservice already provides for the removal of illegal material. It has performed very well and has had some notable successes in fighting this scourge. The second part of Article 25 is concerned with blocking access to sites containing or disseminating child pornography. The arrangements under discussion between the gardaí and the ISPs would provide us with a mechanism that fulfils the second part of Article 25.

I want to return to an aspect of the debate on blocking or restricting access to sites that causes genuine concern to many people. There are concerns about State censorship and interference with freedom of speech if official agencies are given powers to effect these measures. These are genuine and legitimate concerns. Some see any step in this direction as a beginning, the thin end of the wedge. Where the material involves children, however, different factors apply. We must recall that, not only are they forced to participate but, by virtue of their age alone, they do not have the capacity to consent to taking part. They have no freedom to exercise free choice and because of their age, they are unable to exercise that free choice. Therefore, while protecting the general principle of free expression, we must ensure that we also protect the very basic integrity of the children involved. In my view, the safeguarding of children must be the first priority.

The British Prime Minister's remarks on what is termed "filtering" focus the debate on a slightly different matter, however, the question of controlling access by children to material that is pornographic in nature. My colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Pat Rabbitte, spoke about the UK plans on radio this morning. He told "Morning Ireland" he was prepared to take a look at the proposals from the UK Government and I agree that we should examine these with some urgency. The extent of the effects of widely available pornography on the development of young people is not yet fully understood, and it is entirely understandable that parents would seek means to address this. Both the Department of Education and Skills and the Department of Justice, Equality and Defence have long had programmes in place to support children, young people and parents in engaging and dealing with the on-line world. After all, the world-wide web is of profound benefit in expanding our knowledge of the world, and central to the future careers of many of our young people - the last thing we want is fear of what it might hold. There is also a wide range of available tools that can be used to set content restrictions on devices. The route taken by the UK Government, however, asking Internet service providers to set a "default on" block is something new. It is unlikely to be without its problems in implementation but it may well be worth considering.

To conclude, I want to assure the Senator and the House of my own and the Government's strong commitment to the safety of children, on- and off-line, and that we will continue to consider any additional steps that can be taken in cases where children are put at risk.