Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 28 Mar 2002

Vol. 551 No. 4

Written Answers. - Child Abuse.

Róisín Shortall

Ceist:

191 Ms Shortall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the steps which are being taken to address the problem of child pornography on the Internet; the legislation in place to deal with this problem; if there is a special unit in the Garda Síochána which the public should contact; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10736/02]

Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Mr. O'Donoghue)

The problem of child pornography on the Internet poses significant legislative and law enforcement challenges world-wide. International co-operation is a key to progress in this area and such co-operation is ongoing in the areas of law enforcement, policy development and international agreements. My recent signing of the Council of Europe Convention on Cybercrime is an example of the latest initiative in such international co-operation which will help in addressing child pornography issues.

While the nature of the Internet demands a co-operative approach, I have always sought to streamline our national laws and structures so as to maximise our contribution to the fight against child pornography. Following the publication by my Department in 1998 of the report of the working group on the illegal and harmful use of the Internet, a number of initiatives to combat child pornography were established. A national public hotline for reporting child pornography was set up in November 1999 and is funded by the Irish Internet service provider industry and EU Internet safety programmes. In February 2000, I established an Internet advisory board to oversee the implementation of the 1998 report and to ensure that the self-regulation regime recommended in that report would be implemented in practice. The board has been active in the area of education and research and the general monitoring of the activities of all the parties involved in addressing the issue of child pornography on the Internet. A recently-agreed new code of practice and ethics for Irish Internet service providers is the latest objective to be achieved from the combined efforts of the board and the industry.

As regards the national legislation in place to deal with child pornography, the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, 1998, contains a wide variety of measures which apply to child pornography on the Internet. For example, it is an offence carrying a maximum penalty of 14 years for anyone to knowingly produce, distribute, print, publish, import, export, sell, or show child pornography. Mere possession of child pornography can attract a penalty of five years imprisonment.

Finally, in relation to the reporting of child pornography, as already outlined, a special hotline is available for this purpose. Reporting can, of course, also be made directly to the gardaí. The investigation of child pornography, whether on the Internet or elsewhere, is part of the function of the domestic violence-sexual assault investigation unit in the National Bureau of Criminal Investigation based at Harcourt Square, Dublin 2.