Fiona O'Loughlin (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Senator Flynn on her Bill. I was pleased, while acting as Leader of the House on Tuesday, to be able to accept the amendment to the Order of Business in order that Senator Flynn could introduce this Bill today. I am doubly pleased to support it on the floor now.

Senator Flynn’s opening of this conversation has been phenomenal. It was the first time that I myself thought about the need to change the language around this. This is because while the term “child pornography” is horrific, awful and none of us wants to think about it, we do have to deal with it. Looking at the language and phrases and recognising the importance of language and words, as well as the importance of including language that is more reflective of this reprehensible type of behaviour, is certainly very worthy. I welcome that the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, is here to listen and to debate all of the issues around it. It is appreciated, of course, that the Government supports the principle of this Bill.

The Senator is talking about taking the words “child pornography” from the Statute Book and replacing them with references to “child sexual exploitation material”. This is correct, because the term “child pornography” is probably outdated. When we reflect on it, it needs to be replaced with a term such as that which Senator Flynn has outlined. Sometimes it is hard to reflect in the language that is used in a cold Statute Book to paint the vista of the full horror of what is involved in the offences that deal with the images of and the sexual abuse of children. We need to do that. We need to be able to try to show within our words and within our Statute Book the horror that something like this brings on board.

On the exploitation piece, the conversation needs to go wider than that. This is because we have to look at instances of children being groomed. Will grooming be to be covered by this? Senator Seery Kearney referred to this when she was talking about the exposure of children to pornography, as well as their exposure through their mobile phones to highly sexualised clothing, music, activity etc. I remember a few years ago, as I sought to buy some clothes for my young niece as a birthday present, asking myself whether I was being a real fuddy-duddy. That was because I was quite shocked - and this was for an eight-year-old - by the terms that were written on the clothes, such as “sex” and “sexy”. I thought it was not appropriate and I believe it is not appropriate. We need to have an honest conversation, not just in here but within society and within our communities. I remember talking to the mother of a young teenager about clothes who thought that - I am not knocking her at all for this - her daughter had a lovely figure and it was nice to show it off, and fair play. However, sometimes, we need to be conscious of oversexualisation. That is not taking away from somebody’s right to wear what he or she wants or to be able to express his or her own identity. While I might be saying this in clumsy language, I am trying to get that sense across.

I accept that the Government must consult with the Office of the Attorney General, which of course is always important. I know the Senator would want any legislation to completely true to its spirit and that it will be in a situation where it will not be contested etc.

Our society is a different society than it was. There certainly are systemic issues regarding abuse. Consent and sex education come into this as well. Senator Ruane and I worked on the education committee's proposal for a new approach to sex education, which is needed. We made 18 strong recommendations on which the present Minister for Education, Deputy Foley, is working. It is a priority for us to look at that and to bring them in. As a society and as a community, we need to look at what we regard or understand as what constitutes abusive behaviour. I will leave it at that. I thank the Minister of State for being here and I congratulate Senator Flynn again.