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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has defended the government’s decision to set the digital age of consent at 13, saying it was based on advice from children’s charities and the Children’s Ombudsman.
However, he said he understands that the issue is a cause of concern for parents.
The digital age of consent, which was agreed by the Cabinet last summer, refers to the age from which it is legal for data controllers to hold data gathered on children and teenagers. For children under the age of 13, parental consent will be required.
It could be argued that 13 has been the de facto age of digital consent for some time in Ireland – it’s the minimum age for setting up a Facebook account, for example. However, the age had to be officially set before the EU General Data Protection Regulation comes into effect on 25 May 2018.
Keeping children safe online has been in the spotlight recently after a number of high profile cases, and Communications Minister Denis Naughten recently said the government is moving towards appointing a Digital Safety Commissioner.
Speaking today, Varadkar said: “We need to protect our children, that is always the most important thing, and protect them from predators who can now use the internet to get access to children.”
Summit
The Taoiseach said Naughten is organising a summit that will be held in March and bring together stakeholders such as the gardaí, education providers and tech companies to “put together a package of measures and make sure that our children are kept safe from people who use the internet to harm them”.
We have to be open to any proposal that is made but, as is always the case, when you consider making something illegal you have to consider the penalties and I can’t imagine prosecuting an 11-year-old for having a phone.
“The the question is then, do you prosecute their parents? So it’s the type of thing we have to think through and I can understand the need for action in this area, but we need to ensure it is proportionate.”
Last week, a Dublin man who possessed thousands of images of child sex abuse and coerced young girls to send him sexually graphic pictures and videos of themselves was jailed for seven-and-a-half years.
Matthew Horan, 26, used Skype, Snapchat, Instagram and Kik, an anonymous instant messaging application, to send and receive the images from six identified child users in Ireland and nine unknown users around the world.
With reporting by Christina Finn
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The only thing not downsizing is the price!
Same aul solutions, profiteering continues unabated!
@Jarlath Murphy: Good news. Less package and less plastic.
@Gillian Scully: Proportionately more plastic per biscuit. People are still going to eat the same amount.
@Jarlath Murphy: Yeah making profits and creating jobs….what nasty people they are.
@Mary Murphy: Yeah short changing customers! Absolute heroes, have you shares?
Palm oil? – Never, no matter what overpriced size they come up with!
@Gillian Scully: Great news, less packaging, less plastic, less product, same price, as long as your happy why not just double the price?
@Gillian Scully: good for the waste line as well
@Permo Dermo: So is abstinence and more enriching!
@Jarlath Murphy: where is the bit where they are short changing customers? The raw materials are getting more expensive (GBP has fallen against the EUR by 15%) what should they do just sell the biscuits at a loss and then go out of business owing large debts?
@Jarlath Murphy: The market probably wouldn’t support your suggestion. However they could also go out of business by not addressing costs. No more Mcvities at all then.. If you’re not a biscuit fan = no problem. All that said, I do hate their use of Palm oil (same as all the biscuit manufacturers it seems) and wish they’d remove it.
@Jarlath Murphy:
Do u understand what the implications of rising costs are?
@Jarlath Murphy: still only 39cent in Dunne’s or Tesco. No probs
@Jarlath Murphy: __ At least arse-biscuits haven’t changed.
@Nick Allen: Don’t think you quite do as you only view it from the manufacturer point of view
@Nick Allen: As the old saying goes, never waste a good recession.
@Mary Murphy: So when the price of materials go down do they put extra biscuits in the pack, I don’t see that in the narrative?
@Nick Allen: Did you actually read the story?
@Mr Nimziki:
How am i only viewing it from the manufacturer’s perspective?
The voice is reduce size or increase price, it is a profit making company and not a charity!
@Jarlath Murphy: hmmmm because the prices didn’t fall. The article us about price rises! Inflation in a controlled and limited fashion is actually needed to sustain an economy. Go read about Japan’ deflation or study some economics. It is very easy to sit and pontificate about a subject you know nothing about.
@Jarlath Murphy: Yes they do. Often they add 25 or 50 percent extra biscuits for the same price.
@Mary Murphy: go out of business….. LOL to that comment.
@Nick Allen: Exactly,so consumers should vote with their wallets.
@Jarlath Murphy: God forbid you get seven less biscuits in your pack! Think we need to organise a protest. This is outrageous!
@Nick Allen: Do you realise what you have just said
United biscuits using brexit as a reason to reduce the size of its products when the reality is all biscuit and confectionery companies have been at it for years. Another reality is mcvities digestive are overpriced, any own brand digestive biscuit is just as good at half the price.
@Tom Phelan: half the price? More like a fifth. 50c in super valu for 300g of choc digestive (1.67 per kilo) and 1.65 for mcvities for only 200g (8.25 per kilo)
@Daniel O’Connor: __ SuperValu wouldn’t be the cheapest place to buy biscuits at the best of times. Even their own branded packets are a lot more expensive than those of the competition. They should change their name to OverValu.
@Tom Phelan:
“A company spokeswoman denied the change was the result of one specific event such as the Brexit vote, ”
Did u bother to read the article?
@Ted Murray: Notsosupervalue
@Tom Phelan: not the same thing. I can’t stand the sweetmeal digestive biscuits in the own brand range. Way to sugery for my taste.
@Al Coholic: OnlypretendingtobeSuperwhenthey’refarfromitValu.
Just don’t buy em everyone.. Simple
@Mel Fitzpatrick: move to Homestead custard creams
@Quentin Moriarty: exactly, vote with your feet
@Mel Fitzpatrick: i tried that before, and they polling staff told me I had to use a biro or pencil!
@John Dman: hahahahaha
@John Dman:
Credit where it’s due, that was a good one.
@Mel Fitzpatrick: he was taking the piss
@Mel Fitzpatrick: vote with our mouths
God bless Aldi and Lidl-McVities, you can keep your digestives and all your other biscuits!
Fun Size! = McVities laughing all the way to the bank.
Retailers should adjust the price to reflect what exactly? Pretty sure the retailer will be paying the same price for the smaller packs.
Well let’s give em some even more “challenging times” by simply not buying the processed fattening shite and see how they like it? They can profiteer all the way to bankruptcy court
They could rename them Slimming World Digestives
Own brand digestives are nicer anyway.
Bunker from Pladis says the reduction in size from 500g to 400g is because of a weak FX and rising costs. Ok I get that.
Pladis goes on to suggest retailers drop the price. But if 500g is only worth 400g now why are retailers being asked to take the hit?
That really takes the biscuit!
Just another company trying to increase profits with reduced quality in ingredients and product.
This may just be the pivotal event to get popular support up for a second referendum.
@Mick Tobin:
We need to start the street protests
This is hard to stomach.
Ah crumbs!
Since I came off digestives ive been on the rich tea.
What’s the world coming to?
I’m devastated at this news.
@gerry fallon: sit yourself down and have a nice cup of tea and a digestive ..you’ll feel better afterwards ..
@Siobhán Ni Mhurchú: but Siobhan,there’s none left!I can’t cope anymore.
I’m going to have a fig roll instead.
The crash of 08 was brilliant it was the final peace of the puzzle through times of none regulation and fordable a few bought up all made cash then 08 took it all for peanuts.
Now they own evey thing , all this costs are rising is BS basic wages have not increase in years. Just CEOs at huge amounts hundreds of factory’s closed new foods types that produce quicker.
Population increase meaning more demand more buying meaning more takings yet they cant still afford to produce.
It all a con soon there be nothing left just generic products. Like coke cola they use very aggressive merchandising they own most of the shelf space.
So you have no choice but to buy. Knocking every one out.
That’s some word salad,right there!
So the UK must deal with the drop in sterling exchange, in Ireland our currency is euro which has in fact increased against all other currencies and yet we must suffer the consequence of the English ideas on free trade. Simple mathematics suggest we must be English here in Ireland as we must suffer their side effects of their trading ideas. Lidl might be the sensible retailer on our side, i. e. Irish consumer in Ireland with euro currency
It must be a slow news day in the Journal offices that they realise that Mcvitie’s are reducung the 500g packet size of digestive biscuits to 400g.
The news is that they actually did this six monrhs ago.
They one’s in Aldi and Lidl are bigger and less expensive. Look at the ingredients and they are the same. The big old brands want to think it’s businesses as usual. Customers are copping on although they are still a few food snobs around .
It back to Marietta biscuits. Operation Transformation in action.
This is a disgrace, now what am I meant to dunk in my tea? It was my only vice. I stopped drinking because of … an incident. I don’t even take sugar in my tea because of my wife’s nagging. The only pleasure was a nice big pack of digestives that I’d share with my mistress once a week when we’d meet in her parents old house.
It’s a disgrace I tell you, bloody capitalism gone crazy
Ah here now that’s biting the biscuit now !
Bixit
Of all the thousands of biscuits there are out there, why would you want the one that tastes like a compressed bale of hay?
Shrinkflation the biggest excuse you’ll see alot more of.
Buy Irish buy Jacobs
Seven extra reasons for not buying them
An attempt to downsize the obese? Anyone found to have an excessive b.m.i. will be considered “challenging.” As in “when I get on the scales, I challenge them to support me, not disintegrate.”
Well that just takes the biscuit or biscuits in this case.
The end.
That’s taking the biscuit!
That just takes the biscuit
Crumbs.. that just takes the biscuit !
Like everything else..got a magnum ice cream today it was like a child size one.. only the price didn’t reflect it..
Hmm, my packet bought in NYC has only 250gms
This is a disgrace. We live in a time of smaller portions of the good stuff, higher prices and more profits for fat cats. This is only happening because they want continuous improvement on the bottom line. The don’t want the same and certainly not less.
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