On-line child protection requires international response

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 24th Apr 2006

North Belfast Alliance representative Marjorie Hawkins has said that children can only be protected on-line through international cooperation, while welcoming the establishment of a specific unit to deal with the issue within the UK Home Office.

Ms Hawkins stated: "The Alliance Party has long said that there are issues where only an international response is appropriate - and child protection is one of them.

"I am delighted that Government has taken a significant step in the right direction by establishing an agency to tackle this issue at UK level, which can in turn cooperate with similar agencies in the United States and elsewhere.

"This is also a good example of the positive involvement of the charity sector, as I know NSPCC, Barnardo's and other charities have pursued this.

"I would like to wish Jim Gamble, a Northern Ireland man, every success in his endeavours with the new Child Exploitation and On-line Protection Centre (CEOP), and I trust there will be further international cooperation of this kind."

ENDS