Internet providers accused of hypocrisy over blocking access

SEANAD:IT WAS a terrible shame that Irish internet service providers were more concerned with stopping the downloading of songs and other forms of entertainment than they were with awful images of children being abused, Jillian van Turnhout (Ind) said.

Noting that the Irish providers had criticised the decision of their UK counterparts to require customers to “opt in” before accessing adult material, she said they deemed that protecting a child from accessing potentially harmful material was nothing less than censorship.

They had taken a similar view when asked to block all child abuse material. Such a step had been taken in several European countries. The national centre for missing and exploited children in the US estimated that 20 per cent of all pornography on the internet depicted the abuse and exploitation of children, said Ms van Turnhout.

The Minister for Communications should be asked to come to the House to outline what was being done to join our EU partners in blocking this material.

Ronan Mullen (Ind) said the decision of the Irish providers to criticise the action of their UK counterparts seemed quite scandalous. Ms van Turnhout had rightly pointed to hypocrisy “where they are quite willing to see access blocked when it comes to infringement of copyright, yet they do not seem to have a sense of the wider public interest and the protection of the most vulnerable children in society”.

Mr Mullen said he was disappointed that the Minister for Children, Frances Fitzgerald, could not go so far as to even comment on whether there were plans to persuade Irish providers to adopt the British model.

“Why do we lack courage when it comes to trying to shape the media and the internet environment so as to protect children from accessing unacceptable material?” He hoped the Government would take a more courageous approach.

Seanad leader Maurice Cummins said there would be a debate in the near future on media standards.

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Terry Leyden (FF) denied he was questioning the integrity of the Attorney General in relation to whatever advice she would give about the constitutionality of the recently negotiated EU fiscal pact. Like all attorneys general, the current office-holder had been appointed because of her political affiliations, he said.

Describing Mr Leyden’s statement as “very bizarre”, European Affairs Minister Lucinda Creighton wondered why he wanted to call into question the integrity of the Attorney. Mr Leyden said he was not doing so. The AG would make a recommendation, but the final decision on the holding of a referendum would rest with the Government.

Earlier, Ms Creighton said the Attorney General was giving the legal implications of the treaty careful consideration and she would advise the Government in due course. It was regrettable in the extreme that Opposition parties, groupings and individuals were tripping over themselves to call for a referendum, even before advice was received by the Government. “It is most unfortunate that on an issue on which Ireland has a vital national interest, that many of those in Opposition are attempting to score cheap and populist points.”

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The Garda Commissioner should be asked to investigate Bank of Ireland for fraud over its treatment of Galway Airport, Martin Conway (FG) said. He believed that the bank’s behaviour amounted to white collar fraud.