Mr. Harry Browne:

That is a very good question. At times they have and at times the guidelines tend to fade. For most of the time I was in The Irish Timeswe had a very active ethics committee comprising editorial staff from the paper, and a close eye was kept on who was paying for trips and who was paying for lunch. There was a strong feeling that journalists should pay their own way or they should not take part at all in certain activities with potential sources or potential subjects or stories. I know that some newspapers continued to try and hold the line on that sort of activity. To be honest, the overwhelming practice in the industry is fairly lax in that respect, whether or not there are written codes in place that suggest it. The code of practice of the Press Council of Ireland does not make specific reference to it.