THE Taoiseach agreed to a suggestion by the Fianna Fail leader that a working group be set up to examine the abuse of modern technology for the spread of child pornography. Mr Bertie Ahern said the abuse of technology, including the Internet, was a hugely complex issue. The Republic's censorship laws would have to be amended to deal with the matter. Urging the Taoiseach to establish the working group, he said it should involve people in an open debate to see how the issue could be dealt with.

Mr Bruton said an initiative on child pornography from the European Commission was as a result of pressure from the Irish presidency. He said Mr Ahern had made a valid point regarding the different standards applying in various countries about what was and was not acceptable. When the EU was founded, there was a reserve placed by all countries on the need to be able to make individual moral judgments. "This is something that we as a country have had occasion to rely upon in certain instances ourselves", the Taoiseach added.