Eileen Flynn (Independent)

I move amendment No. 41:

In page 6, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: "International obligations

9. Nothing in this Act shall prevent the State from complying with its obligations under international law, including—

(a) the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols,

(b) Directive 2011/93/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2011 on combating the sexual abuse and sexual abuse of children and child sexual abuse material (formerly referred to as child pornography), and

(c) the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of Children against Sexual Exploitation and Sexual Abuse (Lanzarote Convention)."

This amendment seeks to ensure that Ireland is in line with international frameworks on child protection. In the past few months, the State was named and shamed in a newspaper article for not reaching its obligations under EU and UN conventions to protect children, safeguard their rights and call this type of exploitation what it is, namely, child sexual abuse material.