An tOrd Gnó - Order of Business
Seanad Éireann — 2026-05-13
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Garret Ahearn (FG), Administrative Panel

In fairness to the Senator, he made some very valid points. Neither he nor I were at the important committee meeting last Wednesday as we were engaged in business abroad. His concerns are genuine and should not be dismissed, and nor should it be suggested that nobody on the committee is in favour of a ban. That is not the case at all. Senator Mullen outlined his concerns very well this morning. Deputy Carrigy and other members of the committee would agree with him. I am one of those in agreement with him when it comes to some of the issues, including pornography. There is a lot more that can be done. The publication of the report this morning is very important but it is not true that everyone had the same view on the issues. There very much were differing views.
The report is the first step and, as the Cathaoirleach said, we will have an opportunity in this Chamber to debate it. The Minister has decisions to make in his Department. Something needs to be done. We cannot wait for the European Union to act on this. It would be much better if it did so, and did so quickly, but I suspect that will not happen. Therefore, the onus is on the Minister and the Government to publish legislation that will go through the Dáil and this House and will allow for a good debate. There are differing views on the issues and nobody, especially not any of us, is an expert on them. Somebody asked this morning whether there was anyone in the room who had used social media when they were under 16. None of us put our hands up, obviously, but we can see the negative impact such access can have on children. There is an onus on us as legislators to make sure we protect them as much as possible. When that legislation comes to the House, there will be a good opportunity to discuss the issues further.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-05-13/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:56+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-13