It was agreed with the Seanad Office that Senator Moynihan would take the rest of my amendments.

I move amendment No. 142: In page 66, line 2, after "mental" to insert ", emotional".

I move amendment No. 143: In page 66, line 2, to delete “moral” and substitute “emotional”.

I move amendment No. 145: In page 76, to delete lines 19 and 20. I welcome the Minister back to the Chamber. I will speak to amendments Nos. 145 and 146. They both seek to address the inclusion of online content by which a person bullies or humiliates another person in the list of non-offence specific categories in the Bill. Both amendments aim to achieve a similar end, but go about doing so in different ways. Amendment No. 145 seeks to delete the inclusion of "online content by which a person bullies or humiliates…

I will look again at my definition between now and Report Stage but the most concerning thing is the word "humiliating" and whether we are combing the two or if there are separate definitions in the Bill. Bullying is an objective test. There is a repeated element of bullying where there may not be a repeated element to humiliating. When we put those things together we have to have a clear definition of what humiliation means in this context. Someone can be subjectively humiliated but how do we even begin to measure…

I move amendment No. 146: In page 76, to delete lines 19 and 20 and substitute the following: “(a) online content by which a person sends repeated, abusive communications to another person, to an extent that a reasonable person would conclude constituted intimidating or bullying behaviour;”.

I move amendment No. 153: In page 77, line 4, after "(3)(e)” to insert “or 139B”. I reserve the right to resubmit the amendment on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 155: In page 77, line 9, after “139A(2)(b)” to insert “or 139B”. I reserve the right to resubmit the amendment on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 159: In page 77, between lines 38 and 39, to insert the following: "(6) The Minister or the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and Media may write to the Commission and request that the Commission consider a potential new category of harmful content and upon receipt of such a request the Commission shall evaluate such requests and may consider making a proposal in respect of such a new category.". Amendment No. 159 seeks to insert a new subsection, subsection (6), into …

I accept that response and will withdraw the amendment.

I move amendment No. 161: In page 78, line 3, after "public" to insert the following: "which shall include publication on an accessible website, at least 4 weeks prior to the commencement of the consultation period, and for the duration of the consultation, which shall be not less than 4 weeks". Amendment No. 161 provides that when the commission is bringing draft regulations to the attention of the public, it shall include publication on an accessible website at least four weeks prior to the commencement of the co…

I will withdraw the amendment with the right to resubmit it on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 162: In page 78, line 20, after "reconsider" to insert "or review". Amendment No. 162 seeks to insert a provision into section 139C that would allow the Minister, as well as asking for reconsideration of or accepting a proposed new regulation, to request that the commission would review the proposed regulation.

I will withdraw the amendment.

I move amendment No. 163: In page 78, to delete lines 36 to 40, and in page 79, to delete lines 1 to 3 and substitute the following: "139D. (1) In this Part, 'age-inappropriate online content' means online content that either— (a) is likely to be unsuitable for children (either generally or below a particular age), having regard to their capabilities, their development, and their rights and interests, in particular content consisting of— (i) pornography, or (ii) realistic representations of, or of the effects of, g…

The amount of committees I am on-----

Amendment No. 64 is really about financial independence. The Bill provides that the Minister may advance moneys to the commission, provided by the Oireachtas, and with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform. The Bill does not specify whether any such advancements will be subject to the oversight or approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas, as we see in other legislation relating to State bodies like the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, for example. It is not appropriate tha…

I move amendment No. 64: In page 31, between lines 36 and 37, to insert the following: “(1A) Any such financial advancements will be subject to the oversight and approval of both Houses of the Oireachtas, prior to their being advanced to the Commission.”. I am struggling to understand the Minister of State's response in relation to broadcasting contracts. Would the commission not be given-----

This is Committee Stage so I can come back in on the Minister of State's response.

Usually proposers can come back in on their amendments when the Minister or Minister of State has given a response on Committee Stage. This is not Report Stage. The first three amendments in the group are Senator Higgins's amendments. My name is first on amendment No. 64. We have dealt with Senator Higgins's three amendments and mine is next. I had to wait until we reached it-----