Online Safety
Dail Éireann — 2026-09-17
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Charlie McConalogue (FF), Donegal

I thank the Deputy. I outlined clearly in my initial response the progress we have seen. While we all agree appropriate safeguards and rails are needed given the impact social media can have on, and the dangers it poses to, society generally, a key priority for all of us has to be the protection of young people and vulnerable people, particularly children in relation to what they are experiencing as the first generation and as they grow up. Collectively, at European level, driven by the Irish Presidency of the EU, we have seen progress on that, in the announcements this week which I outlined earlier.
There is no doubt, and as we have all seen, social media and the type of activity we have seen on it is affecting society in terms of behaviours and radicalisation of people. We all have to be open in considering how to address that and how to ensure the space is regulated in a way that serves society well. The Government is open to engaging and discussing that and trying to find an appropriate way forward. Key to that is having debates and discussions, such as the one Deputy Gibney is having today with the points she raised on the floor of the Dáil. We will continue to engage with her and across the Oireachtas on how we can address this important issue.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-09-17/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:48+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-09-17