Questions

125. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the position regarding any engagement he has had with his EU counterparts to push for an EU-wide ban on social media use for under-16s. [73604/26]

136. Deputy Peter Roche asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the further measures he intends to take to strengthen the protection of children and young people using social media and online platforms; and the way in which the Government intends to progress age restrictions and effective age-assurance measures. [67433/26]

138. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to provide an update on his Department's plans to ensure a more proactive approach to online safety, particularly regarding the use of recommender systems and their impact on social media users. [74391/26]

141. Deputy Naoise Ó Muirí asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the engagement his Department has had with social media companies, video game companies and artificial intelligence companies regarding child protection measures. [66881/26]

164. Deputy Joe Neville asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the Bills his department may be working on with the help of Coimisiún na Meán and the Garda to address the issue of antisocial behaviour being recorded and posted online on social media by mainly teenagers. [74064/26]

171. Deputy Barry Ward asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the actions he is taking to progress the ban on social media use by under 16s in Ireland. [73602/26]

305. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the number of complaints made by his Department to social media or online marketing companies about specific online posts or accounts for each year from 2020 to 2025, and to date in 2026. [48608/26]

192. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the outcome of his most recent discussions at EU level in relation to the introduction of social media restrictions for children which are urgently needed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48356/26]

193. Deputy Brendan Smith asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to outline the proposals to advance the introduction of social media restrictions for children during the Irish Presidency of the EU; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48357/26]

71. Deputy Ruairí Ó Murchú asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to provide an update in relation to the efforts being made to curb harmful social media content in the State; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44456/26]

1002. Deputy William Aird asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the actions being undertaken to protect children and young people from harmful content and online misinformation on social media platforms; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43717/26]

41. Deputy Erin McGreehan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport for an update on any proposals for a ban on social media for under 16’s; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32804/26]

325. Deputy Ruth Coppinger asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to consider legislating to mandate that social media platforms must provide access to a child friendly complaints function; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31659/26]

648. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the precise legal basis upon which the proposed age-verification pilot for social media platforms will operate; whether it has any statutory underpinning in Irish law given that it has been operating as a pilot (basing itself on MyGovID) without legislative basis since its inception; whether the Data Protection Commission has been formal…

649. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether a data protection impact assessment has been completed prior to the development of the proposed “new digital wallet” social media age-verification scheme; whether the scheme, as designed, would require every person over the age of 16 wishing to post on social media to present a government-issued digital ID; whether this requireme…

650. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether he has sought and received legal advice on the compatibility of the proposed digital wallet social media verification scheme with Article 8 (right to privacy) and Article 10 (freedom of expression) of the European Convention on Human Rights, and with Article 40.6.1 of Bunreacht na hÉireann; whether the scheme, by design, will eli…

651. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether the Government has considered alternative and less privacy-invasive measures for protecting children online, including the mandatory disabling of social media algorithms by default, the commencement of Section 30 of the Data Protection Act 2018 which has never been brought into force and would prohibit the targeting of children w…

652. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide a full account of the data architecture of the proposed “digital wallet” social media verification scheme; specifically, whether social media platforms will receive or retain any data from a user’s government identity; whether An Garda Síochána or any other State body will have the legal power to access identity data g…

653. Deputy Ken O'Flynn asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether he is aware of the joint statement issued in December 2025 by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and an organisation (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30142/26]

1546. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport whether the Government has engaged with major social media platforms (details supplied) regarding the availability of creator monetisation or creator fund programmes for Irish-based users, noting that certain schemes operate in neighbouring jurisdictions such as the United Kingdom, but are not available here; if no such engagement ha…

949. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if he will provide an update on the Government's engagement with other EU Member States regarding proposals to introduce an EU wide digital age of majority for access to social media platforms, particularly in respect of users under 16 years of age; the timeline being considered for advancing such proposals at EU level; and if he will…

950. Deputy Barry Heneghan asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the steps being taken under the Government's Digital and AI Strategy to develop and pilot age verification systems for social media use by persons under 16 years-of-age; the expected timeline for the pilot programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19675/26]

131. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport if the proposal to introduce a social media ban for under 16s has been abandoned; and if so, the reasons. [16790/26]

385. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the engagement he has had with an organisation (details supplied) in relation to his Department's consideration of a ban on social media access for person under the age of 16; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11267/26]

386. Deputy Eoghan Kenny asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the engagement he has had with an organisation (details supplied) in relation to his Department's consideration of a ban on social media access for person under the age of 16; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11268/26]