Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 20 March 2018
307. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the transfer of the Office of Internet Safety to the Department for Children and Youth Affairs as recommended by the Internet Content Governance Advisory Group has been completed. [11941/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra315. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the transfer of the hotline.ie service to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs as recommended by the Internet Content Governance Advisory Group has been completed. [12041/18]
Amharc ar fhreagra316. Deputy Anne Rabbitte asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if the transfer of awareness raising functions and guidance for parents and schools to the Department of Children and Youth Affairs as recommended by the Internet Content Governance Advisory Group has been completed. [12042/18]
Amharc ar fhreagraI propose to take Questions Nos. 307, 315 and 316 together.
The Department of Justice and Equality is the lead Department in terms of the criminal and legal aspects of Internet safety. As the Deputy will be aware, the Department of the Taoiseach has recently convened a cross-Departmental group to consider a whole of Government approach to online safety matters and I am working with my colleagues Minister Naughten, Minister Zappone and Minister Bruton as part of this process. Part of the core work of this group is to ensure that the work being undertaken by relevant Departments is effectively coordinated within Government to ensure maximum effectiveness. In this context, a discussion is taking place as to where the Office of Internet Safety (OIS), which remains in my Department for the time being, might be located to ensure maximum effectiveness. The OIS continues to carry out its existing functions which include the coordination in Ireland of the EU Safer Internet Programme with partner bodies that provide inter alia awareness raising and hotline functions.
As part of the Government review of this policy area, on 8 March, the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment recently hosted an Open Policy Forum which a number of Departments, including my own, was involved in, and which was attended by a broad range of stakeholders. The recommendations of the Internet Content Governance Advisory Group (ICGAG) were among the topics discussed. Arising from that event and the work underway through the cross-Departmental group, it is anticipated that an Action Plan will be published by the end of June 2018.
A range of recommendations and proposals have been made in recent years in this field, and these were the subject of detailed discussion at the Open Policy Debate.
Subsequent to the work of the Internet Content Governance Advisory Group, many of the issues arising, including the management of internet safety functions, were subject to further detailed examination by the Law Reform Commission in its report on ‘Harmful Communications and Digital Safety’ in September 2016, and these recommendations also now fall to be considered further in the context of the work of the cross-Departmental Group, and the forthcoming Action Plan.
