Govt e-mail addresses proposed to fight online paedophilia

An international expert on paedophile activity online has called for the Government to provide email addresses to every pupil in Irish schools to help verify their age when signing up to internet communities.

Concerns have been raised about the safety of websites like Bebo for young children.

Dr Rachel O'Connell says a State email address could stop online predators from claiming they are of school-going age.

However, Aidan Donnelly of internet safety website Childguard believes the onus is on the sites themselves to regulate their users.

“For example, if you want to open an online gambling account, you've got to prove your identity and your location,” he said.

“People send in their forms and they do all of that. People using e-mail addresses doesn't solve that problem.”