Online Safety
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-07
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Patrick O'Donovan (FG), Limerick County

I agree entirely with the Deputy. For anyone who did not hear it, I restate that if a common approach is not possible at EU level, I will seek Government approval to take action at a national level. That is not mañana. If I feel, having taken over the Chair of the Presidency, that this is something the Commission or a significant blocking minority is resisting, we will go it alone like France, Spain, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg and a number of other countries have done.
The sad reality is that the Commission and the European institutions have left it to individual member states to act unilaterally in this regard. That is not how Europe should work. This question should not be about anything other than the protection of the European child. At the moment, that is not the case. If I feel, having taken the chair of the Council of Ministers, that this is something being pushed back on by the Commission or there is a reluctance to move it forward, I will bring forward proposals for Ireland to deal with it unilaterally in our jurisdiction by implementing a digital age of majority, as other countries have done.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-07/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-07