Ollie Crowe (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to raise the issue of the research published by Revolut this week that estimated that social media platforms earned €32 million from serving scam advertisements to Irish users in 2025. Those who fall victim to such scams in Ireland tend to lose approximately €1,500 and Irish users are seeing over 160 scam ads per month. There is also the psychological effect on victims to consider, as they tend to suffer from a loss of confidence and a lack of certainty. The Revolut report concluded that these platforms should invest resources in better detection systems in order to ensure their reputation is not damaged, but these social media platforms are the source of these crimes and it does not seem just that, for their hosting, they should be taking tens of millions of euros as a result. We need to enhance our legislation and such revenue should be confiscated and redistributed to those who can show they were the victims of these crimes. It is clear that under current legislation, these social media companies are not making a sufficient effort to stop these ads and they will only do so when laws are introduced that make a real impact on their bottom line. I would be grateful if the Deputy Leader raised this matter with the Minister for justice.