A report by the children's charity, Barnardos, is recommending that an age and identity verification system should be introduced for young people when they go online.
Read the report
The report, called Child Protection in the Electronic Age, says predators can easily pretend to be someone else on social networking sites like Bebo and Facebook.
Barnardos Chief Executive Fergus Finlay says developing the verification system would not be easy but is possible.
In the meantime he is calling for the introduction of a panic button on social networking sites which could be used by a child who is worried about something developing on a site to get immediate support.
Barnardos also says an enormous amount of data relating to children is held online and anyone holding such information should be licensed to do so by the Data Protection Commissioner, who would have the power to audit them to ensure that they are applying minimal standards of encryption and security.
The report also recommends that Ireland follows the lead of other countries by introducing a system to block child pornography.
