Check against delivery

Let me begin on behalf of the Minister for Justice and Equality by thanking Senator Clune for raising a very important topic.

We all accept that the web is one of the great innovations of our age. It has already brought huge benefits and has the potential to expand our knowledge in ways we could not have imagined only a few decades ago. Sadly, new innovations do not come with a guarantee against misuse. Few things in this world are risk-free. The abuse of the web for the distribution of pornographic materials is indeed an abuse but it is entirely unacceptable when the material involves children.

The issue of controlling access is indeed topical. The question of access arises in two ways, access to certain type of material and access by particular persons. To date, the concentration has been on controlling access to illegal material, most notably, child abuse material.

For example, the minister had the opportunity during the recent Irish Presidency of the EU Council to raise the need for enhanced international cooperation in tackling the dissemination of child pornography. The EU and USA have initiated a Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online. The Minister expects to see that initiative develop quickly in the coming years.

The British Prime Minister’s remarks on ‘filtering’ focuses the debate on to the question of controlling access by, in particular, children, to any material that is pornographic.

The Minister’s colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, who has general responsibility for the operation of the internet sector in Ireland, spoke about the UK plans on radio this morning. He told ‘Morning Ireland’ he was prepared to take a look at the propoals from the UK Government and the Minister agrees that they should do so with some urgency.

However, the Minister wanted to tell the Senator and the House that discussions on the establishment of a structured arrangement for the blocking of access to websites containing child pornography are already at an advanced stage. The arrangement that is being discussed will entail close collaboration between the Gardaí and Internet Service Providers. It will be based on a written agreement and procedures between the Gardaí and individual ISPs. Under the proposed arrangements the Gardaí will identify sites and when satisfied that the material is child pornography, and therefore illegal, they will notify the ISP of the sites in question. The ISP will then act in accordance with the agreed arrangements to block access to the site or sites. The Gardaí will have the benefit of its links with other police forces and the international policing organisations such as Interpol and Europol in seeking out and identifying sites.

The arrangements I have spoken of on behalf of the Minister are in line with the provisions of the EU Directive 2011/93 on combatting the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children and child pornography, in particular Article 25 of that Directive. Article 25 provides for measures against websites containing or disseminating child pornography. The first part of the Article deals with the removal of webpages containing such material. In Ireland, the hotline.ie service already provides for the removal of illegal material. It has performed very well and has had some notable successes in fighting this scourge. The second part of the Article is concerned with blocking access to sites containing or disseminating child pornography. The arrangements currently under discussion between the Gardaí and ISPs that I spoke about a moment ago will provide us with a mechanism that fulfils the second part of Article 25.

On behalf of the Minister, I want to turn to an aspect of the debate on blocking or restricting access to sites that causes genuine concern to many people. They are concerned about state censorship and interference with freedom of speech if official agencies are given powers to effect these measures, and the Minister acknowledges they are genuine and legitimate concerns. Some see any step in this direction as a begining, the thin end of the wedge. However, where the material involves children, different factors apply. We must recall that not only are they forced to participate but, by virtue of their age alone, they do not have the capacity to consent to taking part. They had no freedom to exercise free choice and because of their age, they are unable to exercise that free choice. The Minister says, therefore, that while protecting the general principle of free expression, we must ensure that we also protect the very basic integrity of the children involved. In his view, the safegaurding of children must be the first priority.

To conclude, the Minister wants to assure the Senator and the House of his own and the Government’s strong commitment to taking what additional steps are necessary to curtail the abuse of websites, especially in cases where children are put at risk.

ENDS