Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil le mo chomhghleacaithe agus go háirithe leis an Aire Stáit faoin am breise a chur leis an díospóireacht. I thank all colleagues and the Minister of State in particular for extending the speaking time. I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment. I hope he does well in his brief. I am sure that he is taking to it with gusto. Sinn Féin welcome the EU directive on measures to combat the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children. As others have mentioned, the directive is an important one and we must implement it fully and put the resources in place in order that it can be policed fully as well.

We particularly welcome that the directive includes important provisions which attempt to address online pornography and the online grooming of children. The fact that the directive stipulates clearly the new rules on sentencing thresholds for the various offences and that these are to become uniform across the EU is a major step forward in the battle against the abuse and exploitation of vulnerable children. The Minister's role in looking at how different jurisdictions will implement the directive will be a particularly interesting one.

It is important that both Ireland and Europe deal with child protection related Internet issues. Notwithstanding the technical blocks that other Members have mentioned, we as legislators must ensure legislation enables the people with the technical expertise to put whatever blockages and filters need to be in place. That does not need to be stipulated in too fine a detail in the legislation. It needs to be worked out by those with the technical expertise. We are all agreed, however, that the will of the legislators is that this material be blocked and stopped.

Sinn Féin feels that the criminalisation of online soliciting of children is a step in the right direction, especially when it concerns the use of the Internet for grooming and for the production of child pornography. We welcome the fact that member states are obliged to transpose the new rules into national law within two years, and we urge the Government not to drag its feet on the issue, a call that has been echoed by other Senators.

We are very good at implementing certain EU directives, but we are less good with others. This is not the first time I have mentioned the EU reception conditions directive - and it will not be the last time that the Minister of State hears me talk about it - on which I have strong views and which relates particularly to people seeking asylum. Ireland and Denmark are the only member states that have not signed up to the directive. Denmark has not done so because it has gone further than the directive calls for.

I note Senator Keane's comments about Portugal. Senator Conway and I recently visited its equivalent of direct provision in Lisbon. It is a much better model than the system we have. That is an issue to which I will return, but the Minister needs to take cognisance of the fact that our direct provision system and asylum mechanisms in this country are far lacking and do not live up to our obligations and what we should be aspiring to on an EU level. I suggest that the Minister looks at how other EU countries are handling these areas, and perhaps we will come back to this on another date.

Of the new rules contained in the directive, the one with the most significant potential impact is the one concerning the sex tourism industry. The introduction of compulsory jurisdiction over nationals who commit crimes abroad and the establishment of preventative measures to that effect are long overdue.

The sexual abuse and exploitation of children is global in nature and any measures which seek to protect children and combat trafficking and abuse must deal with these issues in an international context. We welcome this move and look forward to seeing more detailed legislation as it is brought forward.

I note that in his opening remarks the Minister of State referred to vetting. There are grey areas around the question of vetting people who work as third parties for the State, as would happen in a direct provision centre, which is basically a private service paid for by the State. For example, do all the staff in those centres fall under the current vetting legislation? Is it applicable to them?

Tá siad le moladh. Tá sé tábhachtach go mbeidh an reachtaíocht seo á tabhairt chun cinn. Aontaím agus tacaím leis an méid oibre atá déanta ag an Seanadóir van Turnhout agus go leor daoine agus eagrais eile ar an ábhar iontach tábhachtach seo. Go n-éirí go geal leis an Aire Stáit.