First, I endorse what Senator Rabbitte had to say and commend her on it. Only this morning, I was talking to a dear friend whose parent with dementia has had to go into hospital because of a fall. This person is upset at having a pad put on during the night, not because the person is not capable of indicating a desire to go to the toilet but because that is seen as the easier way to manage a patient in the hospital. That is just one example of a very complex issue. It is an example of low standards in a high-spending economy. We still have a long way to go but I commend Senator Rabbitte on what she said earlier and I support her fully.

I am very pleased about Australia's move to ban social media access for those under 16. We need to follow carefully what goes on in that country. I know that the Minister for communications, Deputy O'Donovan, has said that he will hold that particular option in reserve but the jury is no longer out on the impact of social media on young children. It is harming their concentration, self-esteem and mental health. The risks posed by online bullying, pornography, predatory advertising and other types of predation are numerous. We must be capable of holding two ideas in our minds at the same time. We must tackle young people's access to social media and to certain free and log-in based services. The creation of multiple online identities for use by domestic and foreign activists in anonymity is a problem. Complete anonymity online is not possible because people must be traceable in order to be accountable legally, criminally or civilly, for what they say or do.

All of that is clear but when the Minister says that the solution to this, taking people's real concern about child protection in particular into account, is a proposed trialling of a digital wallet system, we must ask if that is the only way. There are worries about excessive State surveillance in people's lives. There are also worries about hacking and the State's inability to manage data. While we absolutely must tackle those problems and ensure we have solutions, I would like to hear from the Minister whether the digital wallet system is the only way of dealing with this problem. I would not like to think that because people's concern is so strong about child protection, this would now be waved in our faces and expected to be pushed through easily. It needs to be debated and I ask that the Minister come to this House in the new year to discuss this proposal, to see if it is the best way, if there are problems with it and whether such problems can be surmounted.