One of the nominees of the Taoiseach to the Seanad says she feels nostalgic for Playboy and Hustler.

Mary-Ann O'Brien made the comments while complaining about how easy it is now to access porn online. The chocolate maker even read into the record the names of certain sites that are readily accessible.

The ISPCC meanwhile has called on the Irish government to consider forcing internet providers to block all explicit material online. The society thinks Ireland should follow the lead of Britain by asking internet users to tell their providers if they want to be able to access pornography.

The British government is expected to announce the measures which are aimed at protecting children from inappropriate materials. Every UK householder connected to the internet will have to request access to online pornography if they want to view it.

The filter will be automatically enabled for new customers setting up broadband accounts or switching providers unless a request is made to disable it.

In a statement, a Google spokesman said "We have a zero tolerance attitude to child sexual abuse imagery. Whenever we discover it, we respond quickly to remove and report it. "We recently donated US$5 million (€3.79) to help combat this problem and are committed to continuing the dialogue with the (UK) Government on these issues."

The measures are expected to include an outright ban on the possession of violent pornographic scenes and on some search terms which can be used to find illegal underage material.

The measures are set to come into force by the end of next year but the Department of Justice has not said yet whether it has any similar plans for Ireland for the moment.