David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to support this amendment. There was a discussion on the word "pornography". It comes from the Greeks who defined it as the writings of or about prostitutes and prostitution. It seems pornography is very widely accepted, apparently. I have not visited the petrol stations or the newsagents patronised by other Members of the House, or at least I have not seen this material openly on view but I assume that they are correct in that it is. The phrase "child sexual abuse material" seems particularly appropriate in light of the spread of pornographic, or sexually explicit or derogatory material on the Internet. Again, I have no personal direct knowledge of these things because I do not use a computer. I have never watched the Internet, if one can watch it and I do not know if one can. It seems to be something up there in the ether. I have never seen child sexual abuse material or child pornography, nor do I want to. It is pretty disgusting. For that reason, I strongly support Senator van Turnhout. She has done us a favour by raising this issue.

I understand from Senator Bacik that there may be some reasons in terms of the correlation between this law and international legal procedure that means we cannot do this, but I do not take that argument because I do not see why we should not lead the way. This country led the way in the marriage equality referendum. We were the first country in the world to vote this through on a national basis. I do not see any reason we should not lead the world again. Why should we be so backward in feeling that we have to tie in with everybody else and that we have to use language that is not as explicit, that is not as clear and does not make the attitude of society as explicit simply because other countries have not yet caught up? We should be in the vanguard. We should be out front, leading proudly as Ireland, as a young progressive nation. I strongly support the substitution of "child sexual abuse material" for the phrase "child pornography".

People are now very chummy about pornography and seem to think it is a good thing and everybody openly discusses it on radio and television and all the rest of it. There seems to be something kind of warm and fuzzy and really sort of nice about pornography - there is the view that everybody does it and all this kind of stuff. Whatever about adults, and I spoke on this many years ago in defence of people's access to explicit sexual material for learning purposes, for instruction and for titillation - I do not see anything wrong with it, but that is when it includes consenting adults. This is children and children are always in these circumstances the victims of exploitation. They are never consenting. They are never willing. They are frequently, I understand from reading about it, as I have never seen it, I would not watch it and I could not bear to watch it, abused physically, they are raped and, in some circumstances, I understand, even murdered for the pleasure of adults. It is really horrifying.

The nice chumminess where one sits down after one's Sunday roast beef or roast lamb and says we will switch on the television and see pornography is a very different thing from child sexual abuse material. That terminology seems to get it, it focuses it and it makes it clearer. I commend Senator van Turnhout on her amendment.