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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 26 Oct 1995

Vol. 457 No. 6

Written Answers. - Censorship of Publications.

John O'Donoghue

Ceist:

88 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice the plans, if any, she has to prepare legislation to criminalise the sale of magazines portraying child pornography and beastiality; and if she accepts that this type of publication, which is not banned under the 1964 Censorship of Publications Act, is frequently to be found in cases of child sex abuse. [15888/95]

As the Deputy knows, there is a mechanism in place, under the Censorship of Publications legislation, through which obscene publications can be banned. Once a publication is banned, it is then a criminal offence to sell, or expose, offer, advertise or keep for sale, or distribute, or offer or keep for distribution, any such publication.

I would strongly urge persons who may be aware of the sale, at any place, of books or magazines of this kind to employ the provisions outlined in sections 6 and 9 of the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946 (as amended). In particular, section 9 of the Censorship of Publications Act, 1946 makes provision for the Censorship of Publications Board, on receipt of a complaint from any person, to prohibit the sale of a magazine which they consider to be indecent or obscene. Complaints should be made to the Censorship of Publications Board. A complaint must be accompanied by a copy of the book in question or, in the case of a magazine, by three recent issues of the magazine.
It is of course the case that the Garda also have certain powers in situations where magazines of the kind described are offered for sale. While I do not want to comment on the details of any particular situation — in case it would prejudice Garda operations in this regard — I can say that in one particular case an intensive Garda investigation is already in place.
If, at any stage, it were to become evident that the existing censorship legislation as amended is inadequate to prevent the sale of such magazines. I will not hesitate to propose amending legislation. I believe we all have a duty to ensure that children are protected from abuse of this kind.
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