Josepha Madigan
Question:139. Deputy Josepha Madigan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality if she will support the Harmful and Malicious Electronic Communications Bill 2015. [10491/16]
View answerTuesday, 17 May 2016
Questions (139)
Written answers
As the Deputy may be aware, the Harmful and Malicious Electronic Communications Bill 2015 was debated in the Seanad last July. At that time I referred to the work of the Law Reform Commission (LRC) which is currently carrying out a project on Cybercrime affecting personal safety, privacy and reputation, including cyberbullying. In November 2014 the LRC published an Issues Paper and sought the views of interested parties on the key issues it had identified. In April 2015 it held a seminar to discuss these issues. After the Seanad debate I forwarded a copy of the Bill to the LRC in the context of the issues under examination. I believe that it would be premature for the Harmful and Malicious Electronic Communications Bill 2015 to be considered further in advance of the publication of the LRC Report and consideration of its recommendations. It is hoped that the LRC Report will be published in the coming months.