On 4 September 2024, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly, TD, established an Online Health Taskforce to develop a public health response to harms caused to children and young people by certain online activities.
The taskforce is chaired by children’s rights advocate Jillian van Turnhout. It has been set up in recognition of a growing body of evidence from Ireland and internationally showing the link between online activity and physical and mental health harms including anxiety, sleep deprivation, eating disorders, self-harm and suicide ideation.
Two UCD academics have been appointed to the taskforce.
Assoc Professor Brian Mac Namee, UCD School of Computer Science and UCD Site Director at Insight Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Data Analytics, brings a background in AI, machine learning, and data science, as well as perspectives on how online tools and technologies work, especially recommender systems. He is also Co-Director of the SFI Centre for Research Training in Machine Learning, chair of the Artificial Intelligence Association of Ireland and Director of Training at Irish data analytics training and consultancy company Krisolis Ltd. Commenting on the appointment, he said: "At Insight we have always had a strong focus on researching how AI and data science can be used in a responsible and trustworthy way, often referred to as 'AI for good'. This taskforce will be a great opportunity to use this experience to contribute to recommendations for how the negative effects can be reduced."
Professor Mary Horgan is interim Chief Medical Officer and Professor of Infectious Diseases at UCD School of Medicine and Mater Misericordiae University Hospital. She served two terms as President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and was the first woman to be appointed as Dean of the School of Medicine at University College Cork (UCC). She has been a ministerial appointment to a number of health service-related National Boards including Health Products Regulatory Authority (HPRA) and Irish Blood Transfusion Service (IBTS). During the pandemic, she was appointed Chair of the Ireland’s first National Research Ethics Committee, was a member of the National Public Health Emergency Team and the COVID Advisory Group, was Chair of the Expert Group on Rapid Testing, and Chair of the Expert Steering Group on Emerging Health Threats Preparedness.
Learn more about the taskforce at www.gov.ie/en/publication/4d506-online-health-taskforce/.