Pádraig Mac Lochlainn (Donegal North East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Is it agreed that the committee will issue correspondence to the Minister for Finance seeking a response on this matter? Agreed.

The next petition is No. 00018/13, from Ms Margaret Gilbert of the Killygordon and Crossroads Youth Club in County Donegal, calling for the introduction of legislation to make cyberbullying a criminal offence. The petition also seeks the banning of anonymous posting on websites. The committee has examined this proposal on several occasions and is sympathetic to its objective in the context of the tragedies that took place in recent years, particularly in Donegal and Leitrim in particular. It is proposed that a copy of the correspondence from the Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland and the Office for Internet Safety be forwarded to the petitioner for information.

It is further proposed that the petitioner's attention be drawn to the Official Report of 24 January 2014, when the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources welcomed in the Dáil the report of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications on addressing the growth of social media and tackling cyberbullying, which was published in July 2013. The Minister informed the Dáil that late last year he established an Internet content governance advisory group under the chairmanship of Dr. Brian O'Neill of the Dublin Institute of Technology and comprising experts from industry, the legal profession and the child protection sector. The group is due to report at the end of May 2014. We have asked it to answer a series of questions on the most appropriate next steps in terms of policy on online content governance. It is proposed that a copy of the Official Report of 24 January 2014 be forwarded to the petitioner together with contact details for the Internet content governance advisory group, informing her of how she can engage in the public consultation. As cyberbullying is very much on the parliamentary agenda and plans have already been put in place by various Departments to tackle the issue, the petitioner should be encouraged to participate in the consultation process and the committee should then close the petition. Is that agreed? Agreed.

The final petition is No. 00024/13, from Mr. Kevin Sharkey, regarding recruitment policy at RTE. The petitioner is concerned that there is a policy within the broadcaster to employ only white people as presenters. The committee considered this petition at its meeting on 11 December 2013 and agreed to write to RTE seeking a response to the issues raised in the petition. At its meeting on 22 January 2014, the committee considered RTE's response but deferred making a decision on how to proceed.

The decision we have made today is to seek further clarification from RTE of its policy concerning the employment of people from different ethnic and racial groups, particularly regarding the appointment of presenters. It is proposed that the petition be again deferred pending receipt of that clarification from RTE. Is that agreed? Agreed.

I thank members for their co-operation.