Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome UPC's ban on access to child sex abuse websites, but we still have a long way to go on this journey. My Independent colleague Senator Jillian van Turnhout will also be addressing this subject. We do not have any Internet police, and these websites can be hosted and taken down so easily. In addition, UPC is only one Internet provider among others. I ask the Leader to arrange for the relevant Minister to attend the House for a debate on this subject. There is a huge amount of regulation and all the providers should be brought to the table to discuss this serious problem. Many of us find it difficult to fathom because it is not a world in which we were educated or brought up. This intangible issue is not black and white. There is a whole underground world that needs to be addressed, which features modern criminality. It is very serious, however, because it involves children.

I wish to apologise for and withdraw a statement I made last Wednesday when I was talking about the bridge in Kilkenny. I referred to the couple of hundred protestors, Kilkenny natives, who would much prefer not to see a modern bridge being built in that medieval city. I uttered two terms that I should not have mentioned: "corruption" and "brown envelopes". I would like to withdraw those words. However, in the spirit of openness, communication and transparency, I ask those people in Kilkenny who are at the edge of the decision-making process to engage in dialogue with protestors who have genuine opinions to voice.