Alison Comyn (Fianna Fail)

I wish everyone a welcome return to the House and an especially warm welcome to Martin Hughes. I would like to be associated with the welcoming wishes and also wish Martin Groves and Bridget Doody a long and healthy retirement. I will stay with congratulations. As a proud Louth woman, I congratulate Dundalk's own Kate O'Connor on her outstanding achievement in securing a silver medal at the World Athletics Championship. Her success is a source of enormous pride not just for County Louth but the entire country. She continues to be an inspiring role model for young athletes.

I wish to highlight something that is becoming ever more urgent, which is the dangers posed by unregulated and unfettered activity on social media platforms. Bogus accounts, anonymous smears and fake posts are spreading unchecked, undermining trust in our public discourse and leaving individuals exposed to harassment and misinformation. It is not an abstract concern; it is a clear and present threat to the health of our democracy and the safety of ordinary citizens. I call on all platforms to stop ignoring this issue and take ownership of the problem. As a former journalist, there is no way I would have gotten away with spreading or broadcasting half of what is going out there. It is being normalised daily and fed to our children, young people and the vulnerable in our society. Stronger regulations, faster intervention and real accountability for those platforms are needed now, be it through Coimisiún na Mean, the Minister or the platforms themselves. The time for gentle warnings has passed. Decisive enforcement is required to crack down on fake accounts and dangerous content.