Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for their amendments. Section 7(3)(f) of the Broadcasting Act 2009, as inserted by section 7 of the Bill, is designed to ensure that the commission will play a strong role in encouraging research and in promoting or endorsing education initiatives, including by co-operation for that purpose with education bodies and in promoting public awareness, knowledge and understanding to matters connected to its functions. This section is designed to ensure that an coimisiún and specifically the online safety commissioner will have a role in carrying out education initiatives such as public information campaigns and will also work with existing education bodies such as the Department of Education, Webwise.ie and the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment. The commissioner will also be able to endorse third-party providers for online safety education materials which will help schools to source appropriate and robust online safety materials.

Amendment No. 24 seeks to amend section 7(3)(f) of the Broadcasting Act 2009, as inserted by section 7 of the Bill, to extend the requirement of an coimisiún to encourage, promote and endorse education initiatives to cover the evaluation and approval of education initiatives and community awareness programmes and activities. While I understand the intention of the amendment, I have concerns about providing for any role for an coimisiún to evaluate or approve education initiatives, as that would imply a role for it in accreditation. It is not intended that an coimisiún would act as a professional accreditation body for educators similar to the Teaching Council or the Medical Council. I fear it would be an over-step into an area already led by existing educational bodies.

In considering any amendments that might expand or be seen to expand the functions of an coimisiún, I am conscious of not unduly expanding its scope into other areas of policy or other bodies or regulators with the effect that its core functions might suffer. The core functions are to enforce the new regulatory framework for online safety and the updated frameworks for video on-demand services. In that regard, it will play a very strong role in supporting education initiatives. The Bill as published sets out a very significant expansion of the role of an coimisiún in education as against the role fulfilled by the BAI. Therefore I do not intend to accept the amendment.

I recognise the intention of amendment no. 25. I am of the view that the provisions of the Bill as initiated and as read at Second Stage already encompass the role envisaged by the amendment for the commission in respect of media literacy, I can see the merit in specifying the role. However, I do not think that it is appropriate to specify a role for digital literacy. That is primarily the responsibility of the Ministers for Education and Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. They are advancing strategies such as that on the ten-year adult literacy for life and through the early years in school system. I am happy to arrange for my officials to engage with the Departments so while I reject the amendment, I welcome further discussion on Report Stage.