Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

In other parts, we talk about the fact of the impact. There may be a short video that very few people saw and was not very highly viewed. It is an unfortunate and sometimes very unfair practice where there is a lot of trawling of people’s pasts, finding something and then using it in a negative way to try to use it and frame it against them or, indeed, to frame it in a different context or suggest a new interpretation. Unlike broadcasting material, television, radio and so forth, which tends to be there and then goes by the wayside or is there on the player for a while or wherever else or in the archives, effectively much of what is broadcast online remains very much effectively current, searchable and findable for a very long time. Presumably it is not a vexatious situation. If somebody is going to complain about everything, they will complain when it first happens. However, they may also not be aware of it having happened. I do not look at most things and I imagine most people do not. However, you may only become aware of something when it becomes amplified, increased or when a broadcaster with a much wider reach decides to take it up and give it airing.

It is appropriate that there be consistency in this regard. I do not accept that it is not an appropriate use. It is an unreasonable constraint in relation to a person making a complaint. Also, I would be worried that the provisions as set out at the moment could in fact increase the volume of work. If the concern is the volume of work the commission faces, I would be worried that the provisions as currently worded and suggested to be worded in the Act may increase the volume of concerns, because there is a situation whereby you must complain.That is because you have a situation whereby people must complain. If someone does not complain, he or she loses the opportunity to do so. People in most instances will either just let something go or, because they will lose the opportunity to make a complaint later if they do let it go, will err on the side of complaining. In terms of time and volume of work, we might be creating more work in a situation where people feel that they must make a complaint every time there is something that may be of concern and where they cannot, for example, see if the matter is going to prove to be problematic in the long term or if it is going to escalate. For those who err on the side of not complaining because complaining is, in itself, so onerous, the Bill as currently worded penalises them.