What resources have been made available to the commission? What resources are available in the 1997 Estimates? While embracing the information age in our policies, what is provided in the terms of reference of the commission to deal with difficulties on the internet, such as defamation, the availability of pornography and issues of copyright which are causing serious problems in other countries?

Approximately £30 million will be spent on this initiative by the State and I expect this to be matched more than twofold by business and other interests. Approximately half of this will go towards equipment in schools and the remainder will go towards training teachers. This spending will continue until 2001.

The reform of copyright legislation is a matter of considerable importance in this area. If one considers that during the first half of this century the most important area of law related what could be termed "real property"— land and houses, who owned them and who had a right to use them. In the next century the most important area of law will relate to "intellectual property"— who owns information and who is entitled to use it. The priority must be to modernise our copyright legislation. A framework for this is provided in European law. Britain, a country with considerably more resources than Ireland, took approximately 13 years to modernise its copyright law. It is a major undertaking and the Government is taking steps to accelerate the modernisation of our copyright law.

A working group chaired by the Minister for Justice is examining defamation, pornography and other forms of abusive activity on the internet. These matters do not fall within the terms of reference of the commission being established under my Department; they are separate issues. However, the working group is working intensively and will be putting forward proposals on them.