Aontú is calling for measures to be put in place to prevent children accessing pornography.

It comes after the Garda Commissioner, Drew Harris, suggested a link between online porn and a rise in domestic violence reports.

He told a Policing Authority meeting yesterday, the availability of extreme imagery was "unregulated”.

On The Pat Kenny Show, Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín claimed young children are accessing pornography online.

“Children are now consuming content that would have been illegal to an adult just 25 years ago,” he said.

“We're talking about children as young as 10 years old consuming this.

“I had a parent tell me that they looked over their tablets on the history of the searches and their 10-year-old was using the tablet and in those searches were hardcore pornographic images and websites about Santa Claus.”

"A more violent country"

Deputy Tóibín said this issue has been of deep frustration to him over the past five years.

“Ireland is unfortunately becoming a more violent country and we know that domestic abuse cases are at a 50 year high currently,” he said.

“We know that rape has doubled over the last 10 years, sexual abuse has doubled over the last 10 years, and we also know that there's been an increase on children sexually abusing children in this country.

“For the last five years, I've been trying to raise this issue with Ministers and with the Government and it's a source of deep frustration.

“Really all we've had from the Government of the last five years is them shrugging their shoulders on this particular issue.”

"A strong link"

Deputy Tóibín wants to see protections brought in to stop children from accessing pornography, like they are attempting in the UK.

“Internationally, the English Children's Commissioner has shown that there's a strong link between hardcore pornography and violence and sexual assault and abuse,” he said.

“Other countries have started on the pathway of banning access by children to pornography.

“Even mainstream pornography has strangulation and degrading acts as part of their visuals and children are now consuming [that].”

Deputy Tóibín is calling for Government to find a solution to this issue, claiming it is “rewiring” children’s brains.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín. Image: Newstalk