Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity)
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233. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if the censorship of publications legislation will be revised in view of the low volume of publications referred in recent years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26254/18]

Charles Flanagan (Laois, Fine Gael)
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The Deputy will be aware that  censorship of publications in the State occurs pursuant to the Censorship of Publications Acts, 1929 to 1967 and is administered by two statutory boards as follows:

- The Censorship of Publications Board which was established under the Censorship of Publications Act 1929, and

-  The Censorship of Publications Appeals Board which was established under the Censorship of Publications Act 1946.

Secretariat support for each of these Boards is provided by the Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) which is an independent statutory body operating under the aegis of the Department of Justice and Equality.

It is my intention  to keep the censorship of publications legislation under review, and in particular to consider this matter in the context of a planned Periodic Critical Review of IFCO, along the lines envisaged in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform’s Code of Practice for the Governance of State Bodies (2016).