Charles Flanagan (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 346: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his Department has a unit dedicated to tackling child pornography; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25566/10]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 349: To ask the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the ease of access in Ireland to websites which promote child pornography; if his further attention has been drawn to the actions taken by other countries to block such signals; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25577/10]

Dermot Ahern (Louth, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 346 and 349 together.

The detection and investigation of criminal offences concerning child pornography is a matter for An Garda Siochána. I have been informed by the Garda authorities that the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Unit operating within the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation has responsibility for tackling this form of crime. The Office for Internet Safety (OIS) is an Executive Office within my Department and has responsibility for promoting internet safety, particularly for children and young people. The Office has a role in considering measures to address illegal and harmful content on the internet, including child pornography. The OIS is advised by an Internet Safety Advisory Council, comprised of key stakeholders in the statutory, industry and community sectors.

The internet is a worldwide phenomenon with no borders and no single organisation controlling it. There is, however, an existing self-regulatory framework for internet service providers (ISPs) in Ireland which actively encourages the adoption of best practice procedures aimed at limiting the proliferation of illegal child pornography content online. Members of the public may report such material to the Internet Service Providers' Association of Ireland (ISPAI)'s www.hotline.ie service. If the material is hosted here and deemed to be illegal, ISPAI members are obliged to remove such materials. If the material is hosted in another jurisdiction, it is notified to the internet hotline in that jurisdiction and/or to relevant law enforcement agencies for follow up, with the aim of having illegal content taken down.

In a number of EU Member States (the UK, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands), a system of internet blocking/filtering has been introduced on a voluntary basis, whereby a "blocklist" of sites containing child pornography is made available by the police or other competent authorities, and is utilised by individual Internet Service Providers to prevent access to such content. A number of other Member States (Germany, France) have introduced or are considering the introduction of legislation requiring ISPs to block access to websites containing child pornography. It is generally acknowledged that all such internet blocking or filtering systems are not foolproof and can be circumvented in certain circumstances. However, such filtering systems are understood to be useful in preventing internet users from inadvertently encountering such illegal content.

At present all of the mobile phone operators in Ireland, under a voluntary agreement brokered by the European Commission with the GSM Alliance Europe (association representing European Mobile Phone Operators), implement a form of filtering on their mobile internet service, which prevents access to websites which have been identified as containing child pornography content.

This issue of the possible utilisation of blocking/filtering methodologies to prevent access to identified webpages containing child pornography is being considered further by the Office for Internet Safety with advice from the Internet Safety Advisory Council. In undertaking research in this area, the Office for Internet Safety has had discussions with a variety of relevant interests in relation to the possibility of introducing internet filtering, specifically in respect of illegal child pornography content, in Ireland. However, I should make it clear that no decisions have been arrived at on this issue of internet filtering/blocking at national level. Any proposals for introducing such a system would need, at the very least, to be submitted to Government for consideration. The introduction of any such system, particularly if on a mandatory basis, may require the introduction of primary legislation.

However, a draft proposal for a Directive on combating the sexual abuse, sexual exploitation of children and child pornography was published recently by the European Commission. The draft Directive contains a proposal to require Member States to implement some form of blocking system in relation to websites containing child pornography. Ireland's participation in the adoption and implementation of this measure is subject to Government and Oireachtas approval.