Protection of Children (Online Age Verification) Bill 2026: Second Stage Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-08 ============================================================ Anne Rabbitte (FF), Nominated by the Taoiseach I thank the Minister of State for being here for this. It is a very worthwhile Private Members' Bill, PMB, and a very worthwhile conversation that needs to be had in relation to pornography, the legislation around it, the access to it and the protection of our minors - under-18s - online. Far too often, it has got to the stage where there are new norms developing without any controls, regulations or mechanisms around them. The Internet, for far too long, has been the wild west. I welcome the strident work of Coimisiún na Meán, but when you listen to the Irish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, ISPCC, and Ms Fiona Jennings, its head of policy, speak as she has done many a time at many a committee, or if you listen to Mr. Mick Moran from the Irish Internet Hotline, you realise that the web is becoming very dark for our young people. I do not know if many parents listening in here this evening realise that, when they purchase a mobile phone for themselves and hand it over to their sons or daughters as it is about to expire, or if their children are getting their first phones, the parents are handing over all the controls and everything in the phones has been turned on with regard to accessing pornography. If a business phone is left with a parent and a child, the parent or whoever accesses pornography on it, there are implications associated with work. I do not think adults realise how they are putting themselves at risk, not to mind the children they are putting at risk. While I agree with the use of a credit card or Visa debit card as a mechanism, there is an obligation on the likes of our phone communications companies. They could turn off everything. There is nothing to stop them having their phones set so that you have to request to have them turned on and then verify they are on. We should not be handing over phones with everything left set up to enable access as easily as they are. I agree with all of what Senators said but it is not just the tech companies. The phone companies have a role to play in this, in that the devices are set at ground zero and you would then have to contact your telecommunications company to be able to turn it on. If that were done, it would be a barrier and a safeguarding measure, as the Senator spoke about in relation to protecting the child. Having an account number and asking where the phone was purchased would be a mechanism in itself, as there would be a conversation between the telecommunications provider and the young adult trying to access the phone. That is only one of a number of barriers or amendments I would look to include in the Senator's Bill. In the EU Presidency, it is great that we are starting to have more of these conversations. We need to stop the new norms that are developing. We want our children to be protected and sheltered and to hold onto their innocence for as long as possible. However, with VPNs and where we have gone with Roblox, and given what we hear from Mr. Moran - I keep talking about that man - about what is going on, every parent should familiarise themselves with the Irish Internet Hotline and its stats. The algorithms of telephone companies or the various social media platforms are driving young boys to be more inquisitive all the time. Young boys do not set out to be inquisitive. They might start with asking one or two questions or saying that such and such a person said something. Then, all of a sudden, be it through Safari or whatever, they are accessing it through the Internet or they are talking about it. We know that the phones recognise what you speak about. If Senator Ní Chuilinn and I were to have a conversation about ladies' football, I am sure that the first thing that would come up on our Instagram feeds would be ladies' football. The same way, if young boys are having a conversation, it comes up in their algorithms. Algorithms are another thing that need to be addressed as part of the safeguarding mechanisms. The Senator is right, in that there is no one silver bullet for this. There is a collection. Part of the collection is the telecommunications company. The second part is the algorithms. All algorithms should be removed. That would cost tech companies nothing in respect of under-18s but we should be removing the algorithms. It is not just about the pornographic imagery or sites that they are bringing them to. We also see harmful content for young females. I know that is not the purpose of the Bill, but we also have to look out for young ladies. In 2018, I produced a Bill in relation to pornographic content for children online. It is a hard thing to think that we are still talking about regulating in 2026. It is a hard thing to believe that we still do not have the tech or telecommunications companies responsible for monitoring and controlling. It cannot fall to parents to continue to protect. It is going to come to legislators to introduce the regulations and laws to ensure protection. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-08/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:10+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-07-08