Averil Power (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the motion and the fact that it has cross-party support. It is significant that the Minister has expressed her support for the motion.

The background of this matter has already been outlined. It relates to the decision last year to hold a beauty pageant here. Most of us were shocked and surprised that such an event could take place in Ireland. Thankfully, as was pointed out, most of the hotels turned down the event. The matter lead to us to consider what is acceptable for children from a child protection and child welfare point of view.

Child beauty pageants have been a feature in the US for quite some time. I have an American intern who works in my office. She has told me about bizarre television shows in the US where people parade their children and put make-up and false eyelashes on two, three, four, five and six-year old children. Such programmes makes the children household sensations but their fame is not based on individual talent but on their looks which is an horrendous concept. If these pageant competitions were allowed to happen here the outcome would be similar. Television shows and other events would be built around the sexualisation and exploitation of very young kids - a move that would be very damaging.

Let us look at the size of the industry in the States. A recent report has suggested that the modern child beauty pageant industry comprises 250 pageants that generate $20 billion annually. Also, rival families whose children contest the pageants often incur huge debts through spending up to $30,000 on competitions. Apart from the financial costs incurred by parents and families, Senator van Turnhout mentioned the personal cost and toll pageants take on the children involved. Pageants have an impact on their self-esteem, on their sense of self and on what is valued about themselves due to emphasis being placed on their body image, appearance, attractiveness to adults and adult concepts, sexual attraction and things like that. It is bizarre to even use the term "attractiveness" when referring to small children.

The Senator mentioned difficulties, including anorexia, which are consequences of putting such an emphasis on how children and young people look. We have seen reports from the United States of parents subjecting their little girls to botox treatment, facial threading, waxing, hair and nail extensions, and false teeth. I have been told that small children are regularly given false teeth to make them look perfect according to other people's views of what they should be like and what is attractive. The whole idea is repugnant.

I hope that change will come about due to the moral force of our argument and I agree with the Minister that we should not need to legislate in this area. Senator van Turnhout has addressed the matter as a sledge-hammer but I hope we will not have to do that. It would be daft and silly to do so. Most parents agree that this is ridiculous and, thankfully, the Irish Hotels Federation has said that beauty pageants are not acceptable for hotels. Most venues turned them down last year. At a time when businesses are under pressure, however, the worry is that some might feel they should avail of an opportunity to host such a big event but that would be disappointing.

The motion refers to Irish dancing but I had not seen such a competition for some years until I attended an event last year. I could not believe how much it had changed in terms of how the dancers present themselves. It was quite bizarre to see young girls dressed in short costumes with fake tans, false eyelashes and huge wigs. It took away from what is beautiful about Irish dancing, which is watching the footwork skills. The old fashioned costumes had a sense of Irishness but it was bizarre to watch people dancing in neon-pink and other colours that do not represent Irish traditions or culture for me.

I welcome the fact that new rules have been put in place by the Irish Dancing Commission to prohibit the use of make-up, including false eyelashes and artificial tans for dancers under the age of ten. I hope the commission will go further because I think it looks crap on anybody, whether they are ten or 20, to traipse out in ridiculous big wigs and plastered in fake tan. It takes away from what competitors should be judged on in Irish dancing, which is skill and not the superficial appearance of the dancers. I urge the commission to re-examine that age limit because ten is still quite young.

Last month, a former Irish dancer said she welcomed the rule changes, which will be a great relief to many parents and teachers. The problem hitherto was that nobody wanted their child to be the only one on stage who was not orange. People felt a need to comply even if they could see that it was bizarre and ridiculous. It is difficult for a child to be the odd one out. If everybody else is dolled up and wearing make-up, fake tan and the shortest possible skirt under the rules, a child will feel under pressure to conform.

The rules should be changed so that such competitions would be about beautiful Irish dancing, which is celebrated around the world when people watch Riverdance performances. The skill and speed of that show is so popular around the world, so we should get back to the beauty of Irish dancing here. I welcome the motion and commend Senator van Turnhout on the leadership she has shown on this matter over the past year. We should continue to push the issue because it would be a bad departure to head down the route of child pageants where children are judged on their looks.