Sinéad Gibney (Dublin Rathdown, Social Democrats)
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474. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment his Department’s position on the adequacy of social media and online regulation to promote a safe online environment; if his Department has any plans to amend existing legislation or introduce new legislation on the topic; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [65050/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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At the outset, it is important to say that significant progress has been made in improving online safety in Ireland. Since the establishment of Coimisiún na Meán in March 2023, we have seen the emergence of Ireland’s online safety framework, with An Coimisiún at its heart. Failure to adequately fulfil obligations under the framework can lead to significant financial sanctions and continued non-compliance can lead to criminal sanctions for senior management under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act.

Age verification is a vital part of the picture in terms of providing real assurance that children are the age they claim to be and to ensure they are not exposed to harmful or illegal content.

In this regard, systems must be trustworthy, interoperable and respect users’ rights, including data protection rights. To that end, my officials are continuing to work with the Government’s Chief Information Officer and his Office to look at practical technical solutions to age verification as part of the Government's Digital Wallet being developed using MyGovID. If additional legislation is needed to underpin this we will progress this.

In addition, right across Europe, Member States are examining the question of prohibiting access by children and young people to social media platforms – the so-called “digital age of majority”. I believe that any decision would be better taken by the EU and EU Member States together. However, it must be acknowledged that there are differing views on various aspects, for example, as to whether there should be an age of digital majority at all, if there is one, what age it should be, or whether it should be an outright ban or a ban subject to parental consent.

In this context, the EU Audio Visual Media Services Directive, which is the basis for Ireland's Online Safety Code, will be evaluated over the coming year and further measures are likely to be proposed at European level in the latter half of next year. Ireland will work with all stakeholders to ensure that additional legislative proposals are robust in addressing harms posed to children online. I also plan to make online safety a key theme of Ireland's Presidency of the European Union in 2026.

I will continue to work with all stakeholders to protect children and young people from inappropriate, harmful and illegal online content.