asked the Minister for Justice if, in view of the increased circulation of pornographic and horror material, it is his intention to amend the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946, or alternatively to introduce new legislation as existing legislation has obviously failed to curb the distribution of grossly offensive material.
Ceisteanna-Questions. Oral Answers. - Prohibition of Offensive Material.
1.
It is a matter for the Censorship of Publications Board, in accordance with the Censorship of Publications Acts, 1929 to 1967, to decide whether the sale and distribution in the State of any publication should be prohibited and it is open to any member of the public to make a complaint to the board about any particular publication.
Surely the Minister of State must be aware of the growing concern on the part of parents and educationalists at the increased circulation of horror and pornographic material which is openly on display and for sale in many bookshops throughout the country. While I accept that this comes under the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946, surely it must be clear to the Minister that the Act has failed miserably to control the flood of this type of material into our shops. Will the Minister undertake to have the whole Act reviewed, or scrapped and a new Act introduced which will also take into account the proliferation of video nasties?
Considerable public concern has been expressed in recent months at the availability of video nasties. However, there is no indication that pornographic, horror and obscene publications have increased in availability or that the Censorship of Publications Board are not operating as successfully as they normally do. This question of whether the sale, hire and exhibition of video films are controlled by existing legislation has been under examination for some time. The prohibition of the sale of indecent pictures contained in section 18 of the Censorship of Publications Act, 1929, has not yet been tested in court in regard to the sale of video cassettes of an indecent nature. Recently the Garda Síochána referred a test case to the Director of Public Prosecutions to get the DPP's views as to whether section 18 of the 1929 Act could be used to prosecute persons supplying videos of an indecent nature.
Would the Minister of State agree that there is a proliferation of video cassettes and pornographic material and also of such books and publications on display and on sale. While the Censorship of Publications Act is implemented occasionally and banned books are notified and published in Iris Oifigiúil, that is only the tip of a huge iceberg of the obscene literature which is available to the youth of Ireland.
The Deputy is correct in so far as considerable public concern has been expressed. As I have said, there is no evidence that there has been an increase in the availability of these films or videos. Consideration is being given to the possible need for a new Act to control the distribution of these video cassettes. In this context the progress of the Video Recordings Bill through the British House of Commons is being watched with interest. Under the Bill the sale or rental of some video films could be prohibited and those offered for sale could be graded by reference to the age groups to which they could be sold.
What kind of evidence would the Minister or the Department require? It is very clear to Members of the House that there has been a very great increase in the availability of very shocking pornographic material. Is the Minister of State aware that under section 5 (3) of the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946, a customs officer "shall not detain under this section a book, not being merchandise, which is carried by or forms part of the personal luggage of an incoming traveller"? In this day of massive copying and reproducing of this material this may be a loophole, and there may be other loopholes of that kind which need to be dealt with urgently.
The Censorship of Publications Board operate under the Censorship of Publications Acts, 1929 to 1967. The 1946 Act is the main Act. The board may examine and prohibit any book, periodical or publication. They may examine a book or periodical or publication in respect of a complaint which has been made to them by a member of the public or referred to them by an officer of the Customs and Excise. Evidence is not available to the Department that there is an increase in the availability and existence of a greater volume of this material.