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

The purpose of this group of amendments was to make provision in the Bill for an individual complaints mechanism as recommended by the online safety expert group in its comprehensive report. I acknowledge that this issue was of considerable interest and concern for Senators in this Chamber, particularly those who are members of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, and one that I committed to examining in detail before returning to this House. When I established the expert group earlier this year, I made it clear that if it was feasible to introduce an individual complaints mechanism, then I would provide for it in the Bill and that is what I am proposing to do with these amendments.

The expert group has done its work and has given detailed consideration to the wide range of issues raised in the context of an individual complaints mechanism including through a public consultation and engagement with experts such as the Australian eSafety Commissioner. The group's report and recommendations chart a practical way forward for the introduction of an individual focused on the operation of the mechanism on a phased basis, firstly for children.

These amendments were drafted on the basis of the heads contained in the expert group's report and hew closely to the group's recommendations, save for necessary legal adjustments by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel. In this regard, amendment No. 89 provides for the substantive provisions for the phasing in and operation of an individual complaints mechanism, including how An Coimisiún can make schemes for complaints about various kinds of harmful online content, the threshold which must be met before An Coimisiún will handle complaints, the kinds of resolutions for complaints available to An Coimisiún, and a requirement for An Coimisiún to set out a plan for operating these provisions. The remaining amendments in this group are consequential.