I will begin by paying tribute to Jackie Fox and the memory of her daughter. It is fitting that this Bill will be known as Coco's Law. I thank the Minister for bringing it forward and the Minister of State for all the work done on it. I read Deputy Howlin's contribution in the Dáil very carefully. It was an extraordinary piece of parliamentarianism, if that is a word.

Yes, it is now. It was, and I am proud to participate in the passing of this Bill by the House. It is extraordinary that we live in an age in which the threat of the publication of an image and the harassment of individuals can happen online in the manner in which it does. It is appalling, and I am delighted that it will quickly become a criminal offence. It is long overdue. I have great respect for Safe Ireland and all the other NGOs that contributed and have spoken on it, as well as their email to us urging us to…

I agree with Senator Doherty that three years is too long to wait for a review. We find ourselves in an uncomfortable place as legislators. Once we are dealing with a legislative topic that is online and involves evolving technology then we will have to have an inbuilt review within a much shorter timeframe. I believe we should have annual review in order to anticipate and get ahead of the new forms of abuse and uses. Technology moves ahead of us all of the time. Every time I think I have mastered various platforms…

While I accept the Minister’s position, there is something in the "or" element of the amendment. I ask that it be borne in mind for future legislation. Perhaps a lesser offence needs to be created in future legislation. If we say it always must be inextricably linked with intent we are providing almost a defence of, for example, a person claiming they were not in control of their phone. There is also the issue of fraping on Facebook and the excuse is given by the person concerned that it was not them, that they did…

Yes, exactly. Given that these offences occur on mobile devices and the person claims their device was hacked or someone knew their password, if a person is in an intimate relationship with someone and has their image on their mobile phone, the person has a responsibility to protect that image or to delete it if the person is no longer in that relationship or whatever may be the reason the person came into possession of that image. There is something here in that when we always must have intent we are removing resp…

Regarding the Minister of State's reply, I believe that the word "and" between section 3(1)( a ) and section 3(1)( b ) neutralises the strict liability potential that could have had. Inextricably linking the "recording, distributing or publishing" of an intimate image with the serious interference with another's person's peace, again, still gives a reason for no responsibility. Concerning a person holding an intimate image or seeking to record an intimate image of another person, why, to try to understand that mind…

I completely accept that. However, while the intention of the perpetrator is irrelevant to the offence, the experience of the victim is a necessary element. That is where it becomes too complicated. It should not be about that. I appreciate that I have not tabled an amendment, which I probably should have. The very recording of an intimate image, even before distributing or publishing it, should not be about whether I find it acceptable or not. It should not happen. There should not be a recording of an intimate im…

We might explore this in the context of general data protection regulation, GDPR, and data protection legislation. We probably have another piece of work to do about putting it into a criminal justice context. My home address is on the public record because it went on a ballot paper at one point. Things like that are known and the big poster in the front garden was the giveaway. There are contexts in which the publication of that information is appropriate. It was appropriate for South Dublin County Council to publ…

I read this section and took great comfort from it. Every now and again, I get letters that challenge me for daring to have a double-barrelled surname. I am confident that the Deputies Healy-Rae never get similar letters. The challenge is designed on the fact of my gender and the letters are grossly offensive and make all sorts of assumptions because my husband and I decided to take each other's name. In that light, I read this section as possibly putting manners on some of these people, who think they were entitle…

I echo the comments of other Senators regarding the need to tighten up the law on harassment. The threshold for harassment needs to be significantly lower than it is currently because when the offence of harassment was put in place, there was not the same access to digital and other technology that there is now. There was not the same means of getting into someone's space that there is now. The legislation needs to be updated rapidly. This is a very fine amendment and it is regrettable that it is not part of the Bi…

I want to raise a point that Senator Murphy's contribution brought to mind. My husband has had the experience of being discussed on Facebook in the context of him carrying out his job in employment law, and prosecuting through the Workplace Relations Commission, which, in the grand scale of all that is possible, one would imagine to be most innocuous. However, that context resulted in a conversation on Facebook that would emerge every couple of months as to “Where would we procure bullets?”, “What would we do?” or …

I believe amendment No. 21 should be considered for the future and should be put in. Otherwise we are creating a situation where there is an obligation on me to constantly google myself and search to ensure that I am in control of any images that are or may be posted about me. I believe that puts an obligation on everyone to be vigilant of their own concern and it creates a duty of care about themselves rather than the situation of providing for when the person becomes aware that something happened. We have had ins…

On that, my difficulty would be that the more resilient one is, the more one is liable to have to tolerate interference and harassment. Therefore, we have this sliding scale that if one is resilient then it has not had a serious effect. That is a little arbitrary and unfair.

I raise the issue of suicide. The period leading into Christmas can exacerbate loneliness, hardship and stresses and strains. This year has been particularly challenging, for obvious reasons. Few families have not been touched by the suicide of someone they know or someone within their family. We can never stop emphasising that we need to move away from the words "commit suicide". Someone I know, love and respect posted a comment on social media about a family member. It is years since his father died and he pleade…

This amendment and legislation are good news. This is a good news story. The reason one finds Government Senators addressing the plight of landlords is generally because the Government is advancing legislation which advances rights for tenants. As a consequence, the Opposition says it is not enough. We must stand up and say a balance needs to be struck. That is the obligation of government. We cannot just say let us have it all free or whatever. It is disingenuous to consistently speak as though nothing is being ad…

I believe we should debate through the Chair.

One can do what one wishes with this but the fact is that the Bill extends protections and supports. It makes sure that vulnerable people in this difficult time have additional supports from the State. It is good legislation for which I thank the Minister.

I want to raise the issue of equality and what it means. A report in The Irish Times today quotes the Balance for Better Business survey, a Government supported survey. It notes that of all the executive director appointments in the last 18 months in the Republic of Ireland, not one woman was appointed during that time. There was a target of having at least one woman in senior management in all publicly quoted companies in Ireland by the end of 2020 and we will fall far short of that. In fact, almost two in every f…

I thank Senator Craughwell for raising this issue and for his email. I received his email and in panic rang a friend who is an accountant to verify whether the issue raised by Senator Craughwell was true because it was not something that I had considered before. While I hope that at no stage will I need to claim social welfare, it is good to be mindful of the current situation. The cynics out there would listen to us and say that when a Government Senator and an Opposition Senator agree, it must be about entitlemen…

I wish to address a pressing issue for the leaving certificate students of 2020, particularly that cohort who went through their course with a pattern of high achievement but were marked down and have missed places in medicine. Many sat the exams in November and now face the deadline to register for the health professions admission test, HPAT, which is a necessity for medicine. The registrations for that opened today and the deadline is 15 January with an extension until the 1 February. The problem is the leaving c…