Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his pragmatic approach to the Bill. The Bill is a discussion originator. It will start the discussion. Along with the processes the Minister has put in place for consultation with parents, that will stimulate a national discussion. The Minister is 100% correct. Having worked in information technology for 25 years, I spent every summer of my teaching career bringing myself up to speed on the next latest, greatest technology. Technology is something we must embrace and not be afraid of. The one thing I will say about the Minister is that the moment he went into education, he embraced the notion of technology and bringing schools into the 21st century. This will start that discussion in the wider public area. Committee Stage of this Bill will probably see the Bill change quite drastically. I do not want to be prescriptive in any way. I want to give schools as much leeway as I can. I also want our children to grow up understanding technology.However, I have personal experience of my granddaughter who has not been allowed near anything digital at this stage of her life. She is three and a half years of age. I get tremendous enjoyment out of that child's imagination, for example, where we travel regularly on the Luas without leaving her sitting room and where we engage in having coffee and cheesecake without leaving the sitting room, and we visit all sorts of restaurants and she acts as a waitress. It is all down to the fact that everything is learnt from storybooks. I do not want to take that away from children. I also want, when the time comes, for her to embrace the technology.

I welcome everything the Minister is doing. I want to work with him on this. I will support anything the Minister tries to do to make Ireland a safer place for young children. I do not want to see another child harm himself or herself or kill himself or herself as a result of what goes on. I do not want another teacher to suffer the indignity of having some child take an upskirt shot, which is the latest craic in schools. I do not want a young girl or boy to be bullied or harassed, to have the digital device taken off her or him, or worse still. I understand the worst form of bullying for a young girl today is not to get a comment when she puts a post up on her Facebook page. That, I believe, is more destructive than anything.

We will work together on this. I thank the Acting Chairman, Senator Ned O'Sullivan, for his time and I thank my colleagues for their contributions today.