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

I note the points the Senator has made in respect of the Digital Services Act. As she will be aware, the Digital Services Act, which is a proposed regulation rather than a directive, of the EU, is currently under negotiation between the EU institutions. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is leading on this. The Digital Services Act, as a horizontal legislative instrument, will address a wide range of issues, from illegal and harmful online content to consumer rights issues such as availability of illegal goods on online platforms. It will introduce a new systemic regulatory for very large online platforms that will be overseen by the European Commission. I understand that provisional political agreement between the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU, representing the member states, was recently reached, subject to further technical discussions and amendments. As such, the final text of the Digital Services Act has not been formally agreed and is not yet available.

A key feature of the Digital Services Act will be the appointment of a digital service co-ordinator. As I stated, in March the Government decided an coimisiún na meán will fulfil that role. A programme of work is now under way, led by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, to identify the appropriate resources necessary for an coimisiún and the legislative measures necessary to implement the Digital Services Act into Irish law. Although the Digital Services Act, as an EU regulation, will have a direct effect on Irish law, it has become increasingly necessary to provide legal scaffolding in domestic law to give effect to provisions of regulations, particularly regulatory provisions. For example, there is a need to provide for the designation of competent authorities or for penalties and enforcement mechanisms for infringements of a regulation.

Although the Digital Services Act is forthcoming, the requirement to transpose the revised audiovisual media services directive, which we are doing through the Bill, remains. In light of the infringement proceedings under way against Ireland for a failure to transpose the Bill, it is important that we transpose the directive as soon as possible to avoid fines. Moreover, given that an coimisiún will also fulfil the function of the digital service co-ordinator under the Digital Services Act, it is important that we put that on a formal legislative footing as soon as possible. In establishing an coimisiún and setting out a regulatory framework for online safety and a robust and fair enforcement and investigation mechanism, the Bill is establishing the scaffolding to which I referred, as well as the structures to support future and forthcoming legislation, including the Digital Services Act. In this regard, the Bill will assist in the implementation of the regulation and it will not, therefore, hinder it. I do not accept the amendment, but I have noted the Senator's points and will reflect on them.