Seanad debates

Thursday, 26 May 2022

Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed)

 

10:30 am

Photo of Fintan WarfieldFintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to speak to amendment No. 175. I am reminded that the Connemara film-maker Bob Quinn always fought against advertisements during children's programming when he was on the board of the RTÉ Authority. I join Senator Black in thanking the Irish Heart Foundation for its engagement in respect of this Bill. I thank former Senator Kathryn Reilly for her work and for the Irish Heart Foundation's work on all Stages of this Bill and for their interest in it. It is grounded in a huge amount of work by the World Health Organization, as Senator Black has mentioned and by UNICEF. In its 2019 report, Children, Food and Nutrition - Growing Well in a Changing World, UNICEF called for a broad regulatory framework for food marketing to children, encompassing TV, video games, film, books and social media for all age groups, as well as businesses and restaurants that give away toys to market unhealthy food. I thank former Senator Kathryn Reilly and the Irish Heart Foundation for their work on these amendments and during Committee Stage. I hope the Minister will give consideration to Nos. 173 and 175 as well.

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