Malcolm Byrne
Wicklow-Wexford · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“I appreciate the Minister of State is responding on behalf of the Minister but the response provides nothing new. It is almost a carbon copy of the response I received when I raised this issue in January last.”
“Free and fair trade right throughout history is the greatest example of providing people with employment opportunities and lifting people out of poverty. One of the best examples of this is our being able to trade with Canada.”
“I am sure the Ceann Comhairle will remember being approached by the then principal, staff and others. Pressure has been applied. When capital decisions were being made by the Department of education I asked why this school was not included and what criteria were used.”
“To say that the school, and indeed, the wider area are deeply frustrated by the lack of progress is an understatement. This is an excellent school, but when it comes to its physical infrastructure, the school is in dire straits.”
“As we are moving towards the recess, I thank the Ceann Comhairle, and indeed, the officials in her office and all of the staff across the House for all of their work during the year that has made this place run so smoothly. I wish to raise the question of Bunclody Community College. I have had to do it on a number of occasions.”
“I am conscious the Minister of State referred to additional capital investment in 2027. I fully expect and will continue to campaign to ensure this school is included in the 2027 capital list because it deserved to be addressed before now.”
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“When the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, was in office, it was only through his intervention that certain decisions were secured. I am asking the Minister, please, to intervene. This is critical to the people of north Wexford.”
“The Minister of State, Deputy Butler, will recall that in my time in the Seanad, I raised this issue four times as a Commencement matter. I raised it as a Topical Issue in this House on 13 February last year, which was also answered by the Minister of State. She concluded her response on that occasion by saying: "I have no doubt I will be back in here again to answer about the Gorey primary care centre." The commitment from the HSE at that time, which she said was certain, was that the advertising on the eTenders procurement platform would happen in quarter 1 of last year. As the Minister stated this morning, the project was not advertised until 24 June 2025. The problem is that, time and again, the HSE, despite all its promises, does not meet any of its timelines. Will the Minister directly intervene to ensure this project progresses?”
“If we need to amend the legislation to ensure Uisce Éireann sees itself as part of that ecosystem and that we can expect more accountability as elected Members, we need to do it as soon as possible.”
“The Minister knows, if those villages with no capacity currently have the capacity to build 20 to 30 homes every year, not alone will it help to address the housing crisis, it will also help to make those villages sustainable in terms of shops, schools, post offices and other facilities. I commend what the Minister is doing on housing, but it is not just about getting the developers building the houses. Housing depends essentially on electricity and crucially on water and wastewater connections. The Minister needs to be asking the chief executive and the board of Uisce Éireann whether their first question every morning is: "How are we helping people to build homes?" I do not believe it is.”
“Complaints have been made to the EPA about the need to address the problem of pollution of that river. We need to see a wastewater treatment plant put in place for Ferns and Camolin. Those communities have been waiting over 20 years. While it is great for some of the larger urban centres where water and wastewater treatment plants are built, it is also critical, even if it is only two or three projects every year, that in a number of villages, including those my colleague and friend Deputy O'Meara mentioned and the one's the Minister will be familiar with in counties Wexford and Wicklow, a scheme is put in place.”
“We have been told if we allow a private developer to build its own treatment plant in the community, it will ultimately be taken over by Uisce Éireann provided it is up to spec. I welcome the Minister's reforms in that regard. It is absolutely critical if those planning applications go in, that the developers are supported both by Uisce Éireann and Wicklow County Council to ensure we can see homes built in a village like Aughrim. Similarly, the Minister will be very familiar with Camolin and Ferns and the requirements there. Those communities cannot expand because of the lack of water and wastewater capacity. One of the challenges in Camolin we know is that we have problems around pollution of the River Bann running right through Camolin village.”
“The chief executive and senior personnel in Uisce Éireann should be waking up every morning and asking the question: "What are we doing to try to help in the construction of homes in Ireland?" The Minister and I both know from listening to developers that Uisce Éireann is one of the biggest barriers to home construction at the moment. We need to be more demanding of Uisce Éireann in terms of its responsibilities to us as democratically elected Members. I ask the Minister to look again at the Uisce Éireann legislation in terms of ensuring that Uisce Éireann becomes more accountable. Regarding the two specific schemes and the groups I brought in, these communities have been waiting for a long time for water and wastewater facilities. Aughrim is a beautiful village that cannot grow.”
“In that case, officials from Uisce Éireann agreed to meet with me as an elected representative but were not happy to meet with the groups I had brought to meet with them. We must have a situation whereby a State utility is accountable to elected Members. I commend the Minister on all the work he is doing, particularly in terms of the announcements regarding housing activation and so on this week. The biggest domestic challenge is the construction of housing. Water and wastewater infrastructure is critical to that but I am not convinced that Uisce Éireann sees that as part of its core mission.”
“I will follow on from Deputy O'Meara, with whom I entirely agree on the accountability of Uisce Éireann. Last July I tabled a parliamentary question to the Minister around the question of accountability of Uisce Éireann to these Houses. While his office responded that he does not have a say in the operational matters, it was indicated that Uisce Éireann could be called before some of the parliamentary committees. That is not good enough. In terms of the response we get as elected TDs, we should be treated with more courtesy. Not so long ago I had a situation in Gorey where I had facilitated meetings with two development groups. One was from the Ferns-Camolin area, which the Minister knows very well, and the other from Aughrim, County Wicklow.”
“Regardless of the politics we have many family, trade, educational and cultural links. I know the United States. It is a wonderful place. Americans are friendly and welcoming and want to develop those friendships. I hope we can use whatever channels we have to continue to encourage partnership between Ireland, Europe and the United States to de-escalate the current tensions we are seeing.”
“I would share Deputy Boyd Barrett's view that the Inuit people are a wonderful and friendly people. It is one of the challenges in this debate. A lot of the discussion is rightly around geopolitics and security but we do need to think about the 57,000 people who live there. It is for the people of Greenland to determine their future. They have made very clear that at present they want to remain as part of Denmark. We need to show solidarity with them. Mark Carney summed it up very well this week. It is time for those of us in those countries that believe in the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law to stand up to bullying tactics, as President Macron referred to. I would also say, and this is important, the United States has been a long friend of Ireland.”
“Unfortunately, we are seeing the concept of investment in free and fair trade attacked as we are seeing human rights, the rule of law and democracy attacked. It is important that we call out those values, whether it is in the case of allies in the United States. I do believe that in the case of Venezuela it was a breach of international law taking out Maduro but I believe also, in respect of Maduro's regime in Venezuela, which led to systematic repression and oppression and arbitrary detention and where nearly 8 million refugees fled that country, that those actions need to be called to account. I find it somewhat odd hearing certain people calling on representatives of the Government not to attend the White House on St. Patrick's Day although they felt it perfectly acceptably to attend the Maduro presidential inauguration.”
“I thank the Minister of State for being here for this very important debate. As others have said, we could touch on any number of topics from Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing horrors we are seeing in the Middle East to what has been happening in Sudan. I think what is important in this House is that Ireland reasserts our values, the things that have always been important to us when it comes to dealing with conflict and with international relations. That is a commitment to multilateralism, to the values of human rights, to the rule of law and democracy, and to a commitment to free and fair trade. Trade is one of those things that ensures we lift people out of poverty. When nations interact and depend on each other, the opportunities for conflict diminish.”
“It was willing to expand further in this area, something that not all schools are willing to do, yet we are still not seeing any progress. The Department needs to be much more honest with schools as to the exact timeframe that is involved. This is one of the worst schools I have come across in the country in terms of its physical structure, even though the quality of education is excellent. It deserves a clear answer now from the Minister for education as to when construction work will finally start.”
“As I said, I reiterate the point, in terms of the conditions that this school has to operate under, there are two campuses where students and staff have to travel - the Minister of State knows what the weather was like today - across a busy regional road, losing valuable education time. We are in a situation where the majority of the school is in prefab classes. That is not acceptable in 2026. The Minister of State knows I am one of the most passionate advocates for investment in education in this House and support the capital building programme. Lots of work is being done. The question has to be asked as to why this project has taken so long. I invited the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, Deputy Michael Moynihan, to this school because this school has an excellent record in that area.”
“I thank the Minister of State for his response. I appreciate it is not his Department but, frankly, there is nothing new in this. This is deeply, deeply frustrating. The challenge for this school and for the staff, the students and the wider community - and I spoke with my good friend and colleague, Councillor Barbara-Anne Murphy, who chairs the board of management of the school - is that this school is tired of, frankly, false promises from the Department. This situation has been running for well over a decade in terms of trying to move things forward. The difficulty for the school is it sees other schools in the wider community where those projects have progressed much more quickly.”
“Deputy James Browne, now the Minister of State's ministerial colleague, made very clear about how this project, after many years of campaigning, was finally going to be delivered. That was in May 2019. Complete planning permission for the project was granted in April 2023, so that permission will obviously run out in 2028. Every time I have asked a parliamentary question about this issue since I have come in here, from that first one in January, to one on 29 July, to a further one on 25 November, I have got the same answer again and again, namely, that it is at stage 2b. I hope the Minister of State will fill me with a bit more optimism from the Department and that, as with the previous question, he will not simply read the standard script.”
“The response I received was that, "The project referred to by the Deputy, has been devolved for delivery to Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board, WWETB", and, essentially, that is at stage 2b. As colleagues in this House will know, I tend to refer to stage 2b as purgatory. It is that sort of holding place that the Department of education has. If a school is told it is in stage 2b, it never knows when it is necessarily going to get out of it. I have eight schools in the constituency in this situation. In this case, this project has been on the go since at least 2014. In 2019, there were announcements that were welcomed. In fact, the then Minister, Paul Kehoe, described it as one of the most needed investments in a Wexford school.”
“Students have to walk the 500 m, which involves crossing a busy regional road. We are talking about four or five minutes being lost every time for staff and students when they have to travel across between the two campuses. There are only three regular classrooms in this school not currently in prefabs. I do not think there is any other school in the country like this and I will challenge people in this House to identify any other school that is in this situation. Some of the prefabs have been there for more than 20 years. One of the difficulties is that one of the first parliamentary questions I asked in this term was around what was happening with Bunclody Community College.”
“This is a really dedicated team of people working to provide education in an area that has a lot of disadvantage. It is a DEIS-designated school, a champion school of sanctuary and also a pilot school in the supporting Traveller and Roma, STAR, pilot project of the Department to increase participation among those from the Travelling community. This is a really good school as well, when we look at the whole-school evaluations, in terms of the quality of education delivered. I have to say that of all the schools I deal with in my constituency, and indeed beyond, in terms of the physical structures, this is by far the worst. The school operates on two campuses. It has to because of the expansion of the school. There is a 500 m walk between the two campuses. A lot of the prefabs are on the separate campus.”
“Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue matter. I appreciate it is not his Department, but I hope he will bring this matter back to the Department of education and that the officials tuning in will be very aware of the concerns around Bunclody Community College. Bunclody Community College is a school with an enrolment of 310 students. This is an increase of 42% since 2019, so it is a rapidly growing school. It is a very good school, with a very committed and excellent teaching staff and some amazing students. I met the student council there. The school had a very successful project at the Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition around misinformation and disinformation only two weeks ago.”
“I speak in strong support of Deputy O'Meara's question in this regard. I have regularly asked the Department of education what facilities are specifically going to be provided for sport, particularly for new builds, but also in terms of existing funding streams that can be made available to schools to get sports funding. I look at somewhere like Riverchapel National School in County Wexford. Incidentally, it is the primary school of the Minister of State's colleague and mine, the Minister, Deputy Lawless. It has over 300 pupils and it has a hard tarmac and flawed play area at the back. It is not a real sporting facility. The Minister of State needs to tell the Department of education that there has to be a more integrated approach to the provision of sport in education at primary and second levels.”
“I welcome the announcement that there will be a further round of the sports capital scheme later. I commend the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy O’Donovan, on their commitment to the development of not just clubs, but the critical role they play within our communities. I would ask that, in the announcements, regard would be had to rapidly growing communities. As the Minister of State will appreciate, with rapidly growing communities, there is a demand for space. It is right that the Government’s top priority be the provision of housing, but we also need to provide sporting, cultural and community facilities. That is critical. I would also ask the Minister of State to consider what is often a problem for minority sports, that being, where they do not own their own lands or have access to long leases on land or premises.”
“In decisions being made on the next round of sports capital funding, those clubs and organisations that have an inclusive approach at their heart should be recognised.”
“I strongly support my colleague Deputy O'Meara on this. The Oireachtas committee on sport has considered this as a serious issue. When the Minister of State looks to the next round of sports capital funding, we urge him to include this as a factor in deciding on funding. One of our local soccer clubs, Courtown Hibs, runs very inclusive soccer training for children and young people who are neurodivergent or who have physical disabilities or special needs. On the first Saturday of every month, Gorey parkrun runs a particularly inclusive parkrun event, inviting people from Advocates for Autism, Special Olympics Ireland and other groups to take part. It is a model that has been followed by other parkrun organisers.”
“Part of our digital identity is not just the standard form of data and, particularly as politicians, our voice; the image, identity and likeness of every citizen are crucial. We need to address that as soon as possible.”
“The Higher Education Authority, HEA, recently produced a report on the huge changes we will see in the skills base in this country. We need to upskill and reskill across nearly every category of work. It is therefore important we have an observatory that can inform us in real time of changes in society and the economy. We can respond to that. The Minister of State and I have been working with the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Lawless, on this, particularly on the development of short programmes and microcredentials, so every individual can access, for example, a simple programme or course on what AI is, and SMEs can embed AI in their business and use it safely to improve their processes. We need to start thinking about what is coming down the line. I introduced the Protection of Voice and Image Bill to the House.”
“Our first obligation is to ensure our citizens and those who reside here are as safe online as offline. We also need, through the use of sandboxes and so on, to encourage innovation, particularly in deploying AI against the dangers we face. The Minister of State is driving the national AI office. It is important it does not become a "thou shalt not" office, but an enabling office that is focused on supports for SMEs, charities and community organisations to use AI safely to improve their services. It should be a hub supporting other regulators operating in the space. It is critical those regulatory bodies are sufficiently resourced and have the necessary people to carry out the functions expected of them. I am a big fan of the creation of an AI observatory. We are seeing huge changes.”
“We know all these changes are happening in society. The Minister of State will be aware of the interim report of our committee from before Christmas in which we made 85 recommendations. The key to what our committee is trying to do, which is critical to Ireland's approach to this area, is proper regulation and safety by design, and that we balance that with supports for innovation. We have to get the message out clearly that regulation and innovation are not mutually exclusive concepts. We have to make sure they work hand in hand. Throughout history, as Deputy McAuliffe pointed out, with any new invention, proper regulation allows it to develop appropriately. We have to focus on how Ireland can become the AI island. That is about tackling the problems Grok and others have caused.”
“Ireland is, among the working-age population, the fourth highest user of artificial intelligence of all countries around the world. I have just come from Amazon Web Services where they had a hackathon. Their programmers and others worked with charities such as Vision Ireland, Rehab and GOAL to see how AI and technology can improve delivery of their services. I am sure the Minister of State was at the Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition and was amazed by the number of projects about AI and in which students used AI. I draw her attention to one she will be interested in, a project from Bunclody Community College, an excellent school in north Wexford, by Sam Bolger, Thomas Larkin and Aaron Sharlott called "The Firehouse Effect", which looked at misinformation and disinformation and how AI can supercharge those.”
“I welcome this debate. This is an incredibly important subject. I thank the Minister of State for the leadership she has provided in this space. Working with me as chair of the Oireachtas committee, she has been very co-operative, as have officials in her Department. As my colleague Deputy McAuliffe said, artificial intelligence is a tool, not a goal in itself. We use any tool to, hopefully, improve all our lives, our community and the delivery of public services. It is here and there are many positive use cases. I have been fortunate to experience those, such as the National Library using it to translate ancient manuscripts and GP surgeries using it to assist patients. Recycling companies are now using it. I read something interesting recently from the AI for Good Lab.”
“I ask the Taoiseach to express solidarity with the people of Greenland, reiterate that it is a matter for the people of Greenland to decide their future and work with Denmark, our EU partner, on this matter.”
“I welcome the Taoiseach's continued commitment to multilateralism and human rights, the rule of law and democracy. As someone who has raised Iran in this House before, I salute too the brave men and women who are fighting against that oppressive regime. Equally, it the right of the people of Venezuela, now that the despot Maduro has gone, to decide on their future, even though his removal was in breach of international law. I raise the question of Greenland. In August 2018, I made a personal visit to Greenland, including to Ilulissat inside the Arctic Circle. It is a beautiful and special place. The people are very friendly and welcoming. They are, understandably, increasingly nervous. It is a matter for the people of Greenland to decide on their future.”
“I accept the Deputy's point that there are some examples in the sector but it is important to remember there are up to 16,000 people directly or indirectly employed in film, television and animation production in this country, including in the Tánaiste's constituency and in mine. For every €1 invested under section 481, the return to the State is estimated at nearly €4. It is a significant part of our economy. Deputy Boyd Barrett is correct that we need to be concerned about some of the residuals particularly with regard to the impact of artificial intelligence. The joint Oireachtas committee will look at the issue of the impact of AI on the creative industries and the long-term future for actors. This is a vibrant sector. While there are problems, I do not want it to be painted as a widespread phenomenon.”
“I agree with Deputy Clendennen on auto-enrolment. It is essential, but it is important that we take on board the concerns of SMEs. It is very welcome that we now have life expectancy of 83 in this country. It is a huge success that we are at that point. One of the challenges is that we age healthily. In Singapore, as part of the old age package, admission to community gyms and swimming pools is free for those over 65. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to tax relief for gym membership in order to promote strength training. What is critical is that we ensure that those who are in their 40s and 50s, and then in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, can remain healthy. It is critical to engage with organisations like the National Older People's Council, and I know Kevin Molloy in my own area is regularly raising issues around this.”
“I have asked the Tánaiste before about keeping people healthier as they get older, and the commitments within the programme for Government for tax relief for gym membership, which is critical.”
“This is an incredibly important report, as the Tánaiste said. I welcome the fact that he acknowledges the role of AI and technology, and how it may change our lives. It is worthy of a full debate in the House. Given the statistics we are looking at, by 2041, on current projections, there will be 1.4 million people aged 65 and older, and by 2065, there will be 2 million people aged 65 and older, triple the number at present. This is of particular interest to the Tánaiste, given he is probably the youngest in the Chamber, so he will have to keep working to fund all of our pensions. The pension issue is certainly something we will need to address. We need to look at how we are designing our communities and societies. It is critical that we engage with older people’s representatives around that.”
“If you talk to anybody engaged in health in this space, they will tell you they want this action taken quickly and they want enforcement. I know the Minister of State is quite determined when she gets her teeth into something. I ask her to take on board the proposal for amendments on Committee Stage and to respond as to how this legislation will be enforced.”
“One of the concerns I have is that many schools and youth groups have come to me and talked about young people and children who have never smoked taking up vaping. As the Minister of State will know, I raised this in the Seanad before coming in here. I really worry that this issue is not being taken sufficiently seriously. I ask the Minister of State to consider taking amendments on Committee Stage with regard to banning flavourings and colours and restricting advertising. We have been talking about introducing this legislation for far too long. This Bill is before the House. I ask the Department to bring forward the necessary amendments on Committee Stage. I am quite certain they would get cross-party support. I cannot stress enough how serious this issue is. It is a real public health emergency.”
“I want to hear from the Minister of State about how we are going to ensure that this legislation and the previous legislation will be enforced. The industry is already fighting back on this. It is organising a campaign and, quite frankly, it is spreading information. The industry representative bodies need to be held to account. They need to tell us why 20% of their members are continuing to sell these products to children. From a World Health Organization report published in October of this year, we know that Ireland has the fifth highest rate of e-cigarette use among 85 countries. It was discovered that 11.2% of the population vaped last year. Quite frighteningly, it is now the case that, on average, children are nine times more likely to vape than adults.”
“My concern around that relates to the continued sale of nicotine inhaling products to young people. I asked a parliamentary question last month about the number of inspections that are taking place and the number of test purchases where a nicotine inhaling product was sold to a child. In 2024, there were only 223 inspections of which 40 were where a product was sold to a child. So far to the end of October this year, of 224 inspections 51 were found to be selling to children. In other words, at present 20% of vape shops investigated - remember it is only the ones that have been investigated - are already flouting the law specifically regarding sale to children. There are not enough inspections taking place.”
“I certainly welcome this legislation. Vaping is both a public health and an environmental scourge. Many Tidy Towns groups are insisting that we get rid of these disposable vapes and the litter associated with them as quickly as possible. I want to focus on the public health elements of this legislation. Enforcement is critical and that we ensure when we introduce this legislation that we can enforce it. I hope there will be learnings from the experience in the United States where the US Food and Drug Administration has tried to address this issue, but instead has been dealt a blow because of a wave of unregulated products arriving in from China. I want to know that when the legislation is introduced that there will be significant levels of enforcement.”
“We have fewer services, worse rolling stock and more overcrowding than any other rail service. What particularly annoys me is the fact that yesterday, the rail project prioritisation strategy made no commitments whatsoever about improvements for the Rosslare rail line and further looked at abandoning the proposals to develop and reopen the Rosslare to Waterford rail line. If we are to provide a real alternative and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and car use, there has to be a real public transport alternative. I want assurances that the Department of Transport has not abandoned the rail commuters along the Rosslare rail line.”
“I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach attended the COP in Brazil as head of Government. It is appropriate that he did so. I welcome his remarks while there. I ask the Taoiseach to consider that Ireland might consider hosting a future COP to raise awareness of the important issues he has outlined. I do want to express concern that if we are going to reduce our own dependence on fossil fuels and get people out of cars, we have to provide them with a realistic public transport alternative. I am passionate about rail travel but unfortunately the M11 is increasingly becoming a car park every morning. The problem for those travelling along the M11 into the capital, unlike a number of other commuter routes, is that we do not have a realistic rail alternative.”
“It is critical that we do everything we can, especially now coming up to Christmas, to give a commitment to school caretakers and secretaries and indicate that we will get this long-running dispute finally resolved.”
“I raise again the question of support for school secretaries and caretakers. It is unfortunate that the talks at the Workplace Relations Committee, WRC, collapsed and the issue is now going to the Labour Court in January 2026. We need to give a clear commitment in this House that we will look to get this issue resolved as quickly as possible. It is a real concern for long-serving school caretakers and school secretaries. I am thinking of people like Valerie Gregory and Declan Murray at St. Michael and St. Peter school in Arklow, who have given over 20 years of service, husband and wife team Nancy and Mick Byrne in Riverchapel National School who, again, have given a lifetime of dedication, and Martha Hogan, without whom Monaseed National School could not work. I was proud to be able to support their campaign.”
“While AI can be used to tackle harmful content, we know about the problems of AI in terms of them fuelling deepfakes and making it far easier for those who want to misuse social media and the digital space. It is critical in our discussions in this space that is also addressed.”
“I praise Niamh Hodnett in her work to date, both in communicating the work and in getting the online safety codes, etc., up and running. It is a new space and they have done a good job. A critical part of that, which we built into the legislation, was the establishment of a youth advisory panel. In this debate, I would encourage, as others have, that the voices of children and young people are heard. We would do well to listen to the youth advisory panel of Coimisiún na Meán and the Ombudsman for Children. Interestingly, the youth advisory panel of Coimisiún na Meán has recommended against a social media ban for those under the age of 16. Hearing their perspectives on it is important. My final point is with regard to artificial intelligence.”
“This was something former Senator Shane Cassells and I raised with the Minister's predecessor when the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 was being debated in these Houses. While the then Minister, Catherine Martin, was sympathetic to our position, unfortunately others in government were not. It is something that was deeply concerning because they argued that it could have an impact on the number of tech jobs that are based here. I do not think that it is a difficulty. I have looked, for instance, at how Germany regulates particularly harmful speech. There are examples that can be drawn from there but I welcome the fact the Minister is now considering this issue. As part of that legislation, as the Minister will be aware, we established the Office of the Online Safety Commissioner.”
“I thank the Minister for taking this debate and for his personal interest in this important subject. As legislators, we can have no greater responsibility than ensuring the safety of our citizens in both the offline and the online world, and particular those who are vulnerable, especially children and young people. It is critical that we get the balance right between regulation and education. It cannot only be about regulation. It has to be about ensuring that we equip children, young people and parents to be able to navigate the online world. I welcome the fact the Minister is looking at the concept of extending personal liability to those who knowingly and willfully allow harmful content appear on platforms.”