Parents have ultimate responsibility for the purchase and use of mobile phones by their children, the Minister for Communications told the Dáil as he rejected calls for compulsory registration of prepaid mobile phones.
Mr Ahern said that legislation was already in place to deal with the problem of sending grossly offensive, obscene, indecent or menacing messages by phone, or of harassing a person by use of a mobile phone.
He pointed out that 80 per cent of prepaid phones were already registered, and such registration was a "complex issue".
Compulsory registration of pre-paid mobiles would be difficult to introduce, especially retrospectively, because 70 per cent of the three million phones already in circulation were prepaid.
But he appealed to parents to be aware that they "have ultimate responsibility for their children in this regard. It is the decision of parents whether their children have or use a mobile phone. While they are of benefit, they can be a dangerous implement in their hands."
Mr Ahern pointed out that "parents can request that operators allow dual access to a child's mobile phone account. They can then monitor who their child is contacting or being contacted by. They can also request that all calls to and from the child's phone are blocked, except for a list which they approve for their child."
Opposition deputies had asked the Minister to introduce compulsory registration of prepaid phones so that phones used for criminal or obscene purposes could be traced.
It would be problematic to capture and keep the required information up to date because of phone theft, maintenance costs, data protection and privacy issues, and in ensuring the accuracy of the supplied information, Mr Ahern said.
But Labour's communications spokesman, Mr Tommy Broughan, said that if 80 per cent of prepaid phones were already registered, then the Minister's argument for not registering "is complete nonsense. He should ensure everyone is registered."
He said that with new 3G technology, people effectively had the Internet in their pockets. "Given the recent disturbing cases of pornographic imagery being sent to children, isn't the Minister's attitude lackadaisical?" He said that mobile phone companies were making "massive profits from our children". People were "crying out" for legislation so that the 20 per cent of non-registered mobile phone users could be registered.
Fine Gael's spokesman, Mr Simon Coveney, said it was unacceptable that a legal loophole existed "which will allow instances such as we saw last week involving a schoolgirl in Cork, where a 49-year-old man sent her pornographic images by phone".
The Minister said no further legislation was required to allow for prosecution in such a case.
Mr Ahern added that the Irish Cellular Industry Association was developing a "code of practice which will be designed to aid the responsible use of mobile phones".
