Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

In the breakdown the quality of the coverage in terms of negative, neutral and positive, the slice of positive coverage is shown in green on the chart. The figures relating to Sinn Fein are about the thickness of the blade of a knife. One can see that the amount of level of negative coverage is significant. I am not picking on the Labour Party in particular, but the report covers the four major parties and until the election the Labour Party was still one of them. That has changed. The report shows that the level of positive coverage the Labour Party received was almost 80%, whereas almost 80% of the coverage Sinn Féin received was negative. I would like to hear the views of the panel on that.

Sinn Féin supporters pay the licence fee. We would argue that we are entitled to the same coverage. Of course, people, no matter what party they support, are entitled to hear the same level of coverage for the various parties. What is also important is the level of positive and negative coverage, which should be balanced. My experience has been that independent or commercial broadcasting is more balanced.