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Child Protection

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 24 July 2018

Tuesday, 24 July 2018

Questions (624, 625, 626, 627)

Louise O'Reilly

Question:

624. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if his attention has been drawn to recommendation CM/Rec(2018)7 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on guidelines to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the child in the digital environment; the action his Department will take to meet the five recommendations contained therein; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32477/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

625. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality the action he will take to require business enterprises to meet their responsibility to respect the rights of the child in the digital environment as per a recommendation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32478/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

626. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when his Department will examine the implementation of recommendation CM/Rec(2018)7 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on guidelines to respect, protect and fulfil the rights of the child in the digital environment and the guidelines in its appendix; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32479/18]

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Louise O'Reilly

Question:

627. Deputy Louise O'Reilly asked the Minister for Justice and Equality when his Department will review its legislation, policies and practice to ensure they are in line with a recommendation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32480/18]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 624 to 627, inclusive, together.

The Council of Europe document referred to by the Deputy was adopted by the Committee of Minister of the Council of Europe on 4 July 2018. It contains five wide ranging recommendations and a series of detailed guidelines. The recommendations and guidelines offer advice to Member States and to stakeholders on respecting, protecting and fulfilling the rights of the child in the digital environment which may have impacts across several Departments.

As the Deputy may be aware, the Action Plan for Online Safety 2018-2019, which was launched by the Taoiseach on 11 July, recognises that online safety for all, including children and young people, is not the responsibility of any one Department but that many Departments have a role to play to protect children and adults in their online engagement. As was stated in the Action Plan, delineation of policy responsibility between Government Departments in relation to online issues operates on the basis that if a Department is responsible for a policy area offline than it is responsible for the policy area online.  My Department deals with such matters as data protection, criminal law reform and measures regarding abuse including child sexual abuse material, and will consider the recommendations referred to by the Deputy in that context.

The Action Plan sets out 25 Actions and indicates the Departments that are responsible for their delivery. A Sponsors Groups will shortly be established to drive the implementation of the Action Plan. It will be chaired by the Department of Education and Skills and will include five other key Government Departments namely Business, Enterprise and Employment, Children and Youth Affairs, Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Health and Justice and Equality.

Question No. 628 answered with Question No. 623.
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