Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill 2022: Committee Stage (Resumed)
Seanad Éireann — 2022-05-26
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Alice-Mary Higgins (IND), National University of Ireland

I move amendment No. 178:
In page 82, line 28, to delete “may” and substitute “shall”.
We do not need to elaborate because it is the same principle again. The purpose of this Bill is not just to give a lot of power to the commission but also to regulate and ensure there is regulation of the online media space and the provision of online safety. The Oireachtas is being asked to give responsibility for delivery of that policy goal to the commission. It would be appropriate that we would, in fact, include requirements for duties to be performed; otherwise, we simply leave discretion to the commission as to whether certain functions happen. Bear in mind, this does not interfere with the independence of the commission in terms of how it performs, but to delegate whether it performs and to leave that as a discretionary matter is inappropriate and is, in fact, an abrogation of our responsibilities to make sure these things happen. Therefore, it should be “shall” and not “may”.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2022-05-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:31+00:00
Sitting date: 2022-05-26