ADJOURNMENT MATTERS

Pornographic Videos June 13th, 2000 Dr. Henry: I am delighted to welcome the Minister of State. I know I will not get from her the typical departmental answer that I am sometimes given. I will be very glad if the Minister of State can explain the Government's policy on the availability of pornographic videos in Ireland. The provisions of the Video Recordings Act, 1989, were brought into force in three phases. First, the backlog of pornographic videos which had been seized by customs and the Garda in the 1980s in the wake of the video nasties controversy and the list of prohibited works published were brought forward. Second, the licensing of all video outlets, wholesale and retail, was introduced. Third, in May 1994, the regulations for video classifications were introduced. These provided that all video recordings for release on the Irish market after September 1994 had to carry the certificate of the Official Film Censor's office. This position still pertains. As the Minister of State knows, the classifications are the following - for general release, PG which means parental guidance, over-12, over-15 and over-18. Beyond over-18s certificates do not exist. Other videos which are not so classified are prohibited. The classification is almost the same as that in the United Kingdom except that they have an additional grade R18 which means restricted 18. This covers soft-porn videos which are sold or leased from sex shops. When classification was introduced, it was the intention that all pre-September 1994 titles would eventually be classified. This has not happened and the sex shops here exploit this classification loophole.

There are between 20 and 30 sex shops in Ireland with licences to sell videos. They really have been quite clever because when the owners set themselves up, they make sure they obtain a licence to sell videos. These licences are issued by the censor's office. Hard core videos are sold for about £50 each in these shops and the shop owners make sure that those they are selling were made prior to 1994 and hence, they are not classified. If I show the Minister of State this huge book of video titles which have been classified since 1994, she will see that there are about 12 or 14 to the page and there are 150 pages. There are a very large number of videos which have come into this country since September 1994 which were considered unsuitable but the position regarding the non-classification of pre-September 1994 videos prevails. I have found it very easy for someone else to obtain videos for me called, for example, "Raunchy Randy Ravers", "Red Hot and Raw" and "She-Females", which are entirely unsuitable, I would have thought, to be distributed without classification. However, because these were made in 1991, they are not covered by the legislation so there is a large loophole there. This is a most lucrative business. The numbers of sex shops around the country increase by the month and, as I said, they do not have to have the type of licences to set up as they do in the United Kingdom. There was much excitement when the Ann Summers shop arrived in O'Connell Street but I advise the Minister of State that it is a fairly mild establishment compared to the others. In the United Kingdom, there are licensed sex shops which sell videos which have been classified as R18 by the British Board of Film Classification. We have no regulations to cover pornographic videos except those outlawing child pornography which means, as I said, we turn a blind eye to the pre-1994 product. Much research has been carried out on the effect on children of watching such videos. These videos are widely used by paedophiles to, as they say, soften up young victims and desensitise them to what is being done to them. There is a huge volume of such videos available and once they are in people's homes, they will be seen by children because while one set of parents who have bought them will be careful about putting them away, amazingly, they will not be policed in all homes. Of course, children will get to watch them. The availability of porn or otherwise is really a political decision. Banning it totally can simply drive it underground but the present situation is ridiculous. There should be some sort of regulation as to where and when pornographic videos are available. Staff at the Film Censor's office have been in contact with officials from the Minister of State's Department and with the video trade and they said they are in a position to classify the pre-1994 videos. The samples of these works which I have seen are beyond most people's imagination. Forgive me for referring to it, but four hours of anal sex is on one of these videos and one would need the fast forward button for quite a lot of it because it is so boring after the first shock effect. Does the Minister intend to take up the Film Censor's office on their offer to classify pre-1994 videos? What about introducing another classification such as R18 which they have in the United Kingdom?

Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform (Miss M. Wallace): I thank the Senator for raising this important issue which is timely for different reasons I will now outline. I am sure there is no need for me to outline to the Senator and other Members of this House the Minister's views on pornography. Members will be aware of his action in this regard, particularly where children are involved. The background to the issue which the Senator has raised relates to the Video Recordings Act which was enacted in 1989. This Act provided for the control and regulation of the supply and importation of video recordings. Basically, the Act aimed at three levels of control. First, it provided for the licensing of wholesale and retail video outlets; second, it provided that the Film Censor may, on grounds specified in the Act, prohibit the supply of video films which he considers unsuitable for viewing and third, it provided for the classification of video films in terms of their suitability for viewing by different age groups. The first level of control, licensing, mentioned above was brought into operation with effect from 1 May 1991. The second level, prohibition, was commenced with effect from 26 July 1991. The third level, certification and classification, was introduced by regulations made by the then Minister for Justice on 12 May 1994. The regulations made by way of a statutory instrument provide that, from 1 September 1994, the point made by Senator Henry, all newly released videos coming on the market must first be submitted to the official censor for certification and classification. When certified and classified by the official censor, each video must carry a prescribed label showing that it has been certified as fit for viewing and indicate by way of a prescribed classification symbol whether it has been classified as suitable for general viewing or as suitable only for person over a certain age. The age classifications which apply and to which the Senator referred, comprise four different categories - first, fit for viewing by persons generally; second, fit for viewing by persons generally but, in the case of the child under the age of 12 years, only in the company of a responsible adult; third, fit for viewing by persons aged 15 years or more and fourth, fit for viewing by persons aged 18 years or more. The Act also gave the Film Censor power to prohibit, by order, any video, such as pornographic videos or video nasties, which comes to his attention and which he considers, by reference to criteria set out in the Act, to be unfit for viewing. To date, the censor has made orders prohibiting 3,131 videos. The grounds on which the Film Censor may declare a video film to be unfit for viewing are those specified in section 3 of the Act. Eight assistant censors have been appointed to assist the Film Censor in performing the work of censoring videos in the Film Censor's office. I understand that in 1994, when the order to commence the classification and certification of video recordings was being implemented, a decision was taken to only include, at that stage, material released after the commencement date, which was 1 September 1994. This provision was to allow the eight assistant censors in the Film Censor's office especially recruited to certify and classify video recordings, to develop the skills necessary to deal with the workload, without the pressure which would have been a feature had the pre-September 1994 "back-catalogue" been included at that stage. Clearly, the staff of the Film Censor's office have discharged the important task entrusted to them with great diligence. As I mentioned earlier, their work to date has given rise to prohibition orders relating to 3,131 videos. In the course of this work, a substantial body of expertise has been developed and the issue now arises as to how this experience can be best utilised in the context of future developments in this important area. In that respect, discussions are under way between the Department and the Office of the Film Censor with a view to identifying future progress relating to the issues in this area. The points raised by the Senator will be brought to the attention of the people involved in those discussions because they are important. The Minister expects these discussions to conclude in the near future and on foot of that he will take appropriate action. This important issue is being raised at an appropriate time. On a related issue the Minister has recently obtained the approval of the Minister for Finance for the appointment of an additional head of staff for the film censor's office to perform an inspection function in regard to video retailers licences and video works offered for sale and/or rental. The process of recruiting this additional head of staff is under way. In all events the Minister remains committed to the necessity of putting in place arrangements to ensure that the system of certification and classification of all videos, whether for sale or rental, is effective. The points raised by the Senator are timely because of the discussions that are taking place and they will brought to the attention of the relevant people. Dr. Henry: I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I hope there is urgent action on this because even from a public health point of view, there are videos which feature group sex and multiple partners and condoms are not used. Health warnings should be put on them. They promote a way of life which is entirely undesirable. Speech Menu Top