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

In compelling an coimisiún to make online safety codes, amendment No. 171 would have the effect of limiting the discretion of an coimisiún in when and how it exercises its regulatory duties through the creation of online safety codes. I refer to our debate yesterday, which was on the similar subject of media service codes. I reiterate that the purpose of establishing the independent regulatory body of an coimisiún under this Bill is to delegate the exercise of powers from the Oireachtas to that body in accordance with Article 15.2.2 of the Constitution. That a body delegated such powers has discretion in the exercise of such powers within the strictures of legislation is appropriate. It is in the spirit of the provisions on the independence of regulatory bodies in the revised audiovisual media services directive, AVMSD.

In addition, changing the word “may” to “shall” in those provisions would create a mandatory obligation in every instance which, given the breadth of the provisions, may create a problem. Changing this to a mandatory obligation from a discretionary imperative, which is what the word "may" implies in this context, would mean that an coimisiún could be challenged for not having made a code about any particular issue that is standard or practice of these service providers. Given the breadth of these provisions, this is potentially significantly problematic. If we go down this road, we would likely need to significantly limit the range of matters that may be addressed through online safety codes to a small and exclusive list that would no doubt rapidly become out of date. I will not be accepting the amendment.