Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change)

I thank the Minister. He said it was signed in 2000 and we are still waiting for ratification. Certain legislative hurdles have had to be dealt with before we can reach that stage. The Minister said that, following enactment of the legislation, officials in his Department will work with the Office of the Attorney General on the next steps to ensure readiness across all relevant Departments. The two relevant pieces of legislation have been signed by the President. How quickly can the Minister move this forward? Can a memo be sent to all Departments and can it be ratified before the Dáil term finishes?

This has been going on for a long time. We have seen horrific media reports on the impact of child pornography on children, but we still have not ratified the convention. When Katherine Zappone was Minister she said it would be ratified before her term finished. We are still stuck in a quagmire. I have tabled many questions on this issue. I want to name Tom Brown, who continuously raises the issue of the second optional protocol. It is important that we put this in place very soon in order to protect people.

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