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Proposed Legislation

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 November 2020

Thursday, 26 November 2020

Questions (325)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

325. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Justice her views on a matter (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39277/20]

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Written answers

I am aware of reports of the incident referred to by the Deputy which I understand is currently under investigation by An Garda Síochána. As such I'm sure the Deputy will appreciate that I cannot comment further on this matter.

The Programme for Government contains a commitment to enact legislation in this area, and I am supporting the progression of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill. The Bill is scheduled for Committee Stage in the Dáil on 1 December 2020.

Earlier this week, I secured Cabinet approval to bring forward amendments to the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill to provide for two new offences to deal with the non-consensual distribution of intimate images.

The first offence will deal with the taking, distribution, publication or threat to distribute intimate images without consent, and with intent to cause harm to the victim. It is intended to carry a maximum penalty of an unlimited fine and/or 7 years’ imprisonment.

The second offence will deal with the taking, distribution or publication of intimate images without consent without a requirement that the person intended to cause harm to the victim. It is intended that this offence will carry a maximum penalty of a €5,000 fine and/or 12 months’ imprisonment.

The amendments proposed also provide that it will be irrelevant that a person may have consented to the taking of an image if it is subsequently published or distributed without their consent. It will be an aggravating factor for the purposes of sentencing if the perpetrator of the offence is or was in an intimate relationship with the victim of the offence.

Further amendments approved by Cabinet will update harassment legislation to broaden the scope of the offence of harassment to cover all forms of persistent communications about a person, not just indecent images, and to increase the penalty from seven to ten years' imprisonment to reflect the harm that can be caused by most serious forms of harassment.

Harassment and abuse in any form, whether online or otherwise, is utterly unacceptable and has no place in Irish society. I am, along with my Government colleagues, fully committed to tackling abusive behaviour in all forms. The standards of what is unacceptable in an online setting must be consistent with those in traditional settings, and cross government initiatives are underway to address this.

Producing or distributing child sexual abuse material are already criminal offences under existing Irish legislation. In addition, the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 brought in a new offence of accessing child sexual abuse material online. It also criminalised grooming behaviour, such as communicating with a child online for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Ireland’s national service for the reporting of suspected online illegal content is Hotline.ie. On receipt of reports, Hotline.ie’s Content Analysts examine the content and, if the material is considered illegal, will issue notice and takedown request orders to the appropriate service provider and will notify An Garda Síochána with the relevant information.

I am informed that the Garda National Protective Service Bureau are keeping peer-to-peer activity (this relates to file sharing of illegal material over private networks) under close review including through their use of FBI-developed Round-Up software tool.

Progression of the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Bill is a priority action for me as Minister for Justice and I am committed to seeing it enacted as quickly as possible. I would like to acknowledge the cooperation of Deputy Brendan Howlin in advancing the proposed amendments and I very much welcome the support expressed by all for this legislation.

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