Shane Curley (Fianna Fail)

Last Thursday evening, I left Leinster House and hurried home to a talk in then Meadowcourt Hotel, which was completely sold out, by Aoife Noone on her Think Smart Cyber safety initiative, which tries to educate parents on the dangers of the online world for their children, and empower them. Parents are extremely fearful of what their children face online. They do not have a clue and feel powerless to try to help their kids to navigate the online world in a safe way. I regard myself as someone who is pretty clued in online and I found the talk extremely informative. I was totally out of touch with what young people are accessing online. Ms Noone and her company, Think Smart Cyber, won the 2024 digital impact of the year award. This is testament to the work she is doing and the impact her company is having for parents as regards the safety it provides to their children once they are armed with the knowledge. I was shocked by what I learned. Think Smart Cyber applied to the community safety fund, through An Garda Síochána, and unfortunately missed out. I would like to have a conversation with the Minister on why that was not rolled out because the initiative could have a huge impact on young people and their parents around the country, if what Ms Noone is doing could be rolled out nationally. I am my party's spokesperson on education and the talk was hugely educational. I learned so much, as did an awful lot of other parents. I encourage having a conversation with the Minister on this.