Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the debate on this directive. It is a weighty, important and distressing subject. Having listened to Senator van Turnhout's elegant contribution, every Senator would be moved by her comments and her correct portrayal of the issue of child pornography and child abuse material on the Internet. Sometimes, this aspect of child abuse is muddied by the language of freedom of expression, censorship and so on. It is important that we name it for what it is, namely, crime scene material. It must be combated in every way possible.

There is more to the directive. I commend Senator van Turnhout on publishing the document yesterday entitled "Effective Strategies to Tackle Online Child Abuse Material". I read the report with great interest. It raises the issue of how to deal with this problem. Everyone agrees on the need to deal with child abuse material on the Internet. Should it be dealt with through filtering on a statutory basis, as Senator van Turnhout recommends, or through the means being worked on by the Government and as described by the Minister of State, namely, a structured agreement between ISPs and the Garda? Will the Minister of State consider whether a statutory basis as opposed to an agreement is necessary?

It is instructive that hotline.ie has been in place since 1999, yet is not widely known. Senator van Turnhout's report pointed out a flaw or limitation in the hotline.ie system. If the content is hosted in a jurisdiction that is without an INHOPE, International Association of Internet Hotlines, member, the system sends a report to the Garda, which will attempt to address the content through international law enforcement channels. However, there is no specific way to do so. This highlights the need to consider a domestic method of dealing with this situation through filtering mechanisms. Will this suggestion be examined?

We must be careful to avoid adopting a minimalist approach to transposition of Article 25 of the directive, which deals with the specific issue of child pornography. According to the Minister of State, it will be adequately transposed through the proposed structured agreement, but should we consider a more robust method of transposition as opposed to simply undertaking more of what we are already doing? Successes have been achieved through hotline.ie, but we must ensure the most robust method possible.

There is more to the directive than the important issue of child pornography, but much of it relates to that matter. I welcome the commitment by the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Shatter, to the introduction of the long overdue sex offences Bill. I share others' concerns about the timing. I note that the Bill is on the C list, the small print of which reads that publication is expected in 2014. It does not outline whether that will be in early or mid-2014. This often raises cause for concern. The deadline for the transposition of this directive is 18 December. Will legislation be introduced piecemeal to remedy gaps in that transposition in advance of the codifying Bill? I have discussed the problems posed by piecemeal legislating with the Minister, particularly in terms of child sexual abuse. We do not have comprehensive legislation on the issue. Such legislation is long overdue.

Like the Minister of State, the Minister has stated that the proposed sex offences Bill will implement the recommendations of two Oireachtas committees and reform incest law. It is welcome that the Bill will attempt a comprehensive codification. We have seen problems with the piecemeal method, in that rushed legislation has needed to be amended. For example, the 2007 legislation on the defilement of children needed to be amended due to flaws. I appreciate the need for care when drafting a comprehensive codifying law, but we have been awaiting this law for some years. If the deadline for the directive's transposition is 18 December, let us use the opportunity to introduce the overall reform that we are seeking.

Like others, I welcome the Minister's important reforms to date, including the withholding of information Act and the vetting bureau Act. The Minister of State mentioned something experienced by many of us, namely, the practical problem with delays in processing vetting applications. During the summer, I dealt with delays experienced by constituents, for example, medical students who needed their applications processed swiftly so that they could work in hospitals. We must ensure resourcing.

The protection of child victims is required by the directive. Measures have been greatly improved in this regard through the new rooms in the courts of criminal justice, the Garda policy of 2010 and the new interview suites to which the Minister of State referred. As a criminal lawyer and from a practical point of view, I would stress the importance of the first interview given to the Garda by the child victim or any complainant in a sex abuse case. The importance of this statement is often overlooked at the time it is given. At the subsequent trial, which may not take place for months or years afterwards, the defence counsel will, as is his or her job, pick holes in that statement and any discrepancy between it and subsequent statements or testimonies given by the victim in court. It is important that we put in place structures to ensure that, particularly where the victim is a child, the statement is given in as stress-free a way as possible. Reporting sex abuse to any garda and initiating a criminal justice procedure is a deeply stressful process, particularly when the abuser is known to the child. We must ensure that a robust system is put in place so that children in particular are supported in every way possible when giving their first interviews.

Regarding Article 23 and the point on information and awareness, I welcome the State's support through funding from Cosc for the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, study, which I launched recently. For the first time, the study provides a comprehensive overview of levels of unwanted sexual contact in the third level student population. It is an important study. The findings were chilling, as they illustrated the high levels of unwanted sexual contact, inappropriate commentary and online and other forms of bullying. We must tackle these issues. The first step is through education, raising awareness and working in schools.

I have plenty more to say. I wish to refer the Minister of State to the Oireachtas committee report on prostitution. Many of those present are members of that committee. We made important findings on transposing the Swedish approach to prostitution law. In the context of this directive, we also made important findings on child prostitution. We received worrying reports from the Garda and others working in the area about the number of children known to have been trafficked into the State - 34 minors between 2009 and 2011 alone - for sexual exploitation. We also received submissions from Barnardos and others. We heard testimony from women who had formerly engaged in prostitution before the age of 18 years. This is a real issue and I welcome the fact that the directive will address it.