Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chairman and I welcome the witnesses. I have five questions and I will put them as succinctly as I can. The first two are to Mr. Pitt. They are effectively around concerns which his "future" employees might have. Could Mr. Pitt have handled the defined benefit scheme changes differently? Could he have communicated it to his editorial staff differently and was the way he did it arbitrary? Should that be a concern to staff in future? Should there be a concern for staff around the closure of the printing works in theBelfast Telegraph? I do not say this in a derogatory way but it is my understanding that INM was something of an absentee landlord there when it closed the printing works. I hope Mr. Pitt will correct me if I am wrong but there would be concern there.

Could I ask Mr. Mulrennan specifically about the sale of the Station House in Cavan town? Why is it for sale? I know he has made reference to it. I would have understood our publication to be a fairly vibrant one. Is it for sale to bail out other publications, or is there an alternative? I would like a commitment from Mr. Mulrennan, and from the proposed purchasers, that the whole operation would stay in Cavan. I understand from informal conversation with staff members in Cavan that they have an expectation that it would but I would like a very public statement that it would stay in Cavan.

I would like to ask all the witnesses specifically about community news, the legendary coverage of court cases, council meetings, education and training boards and so on. That is very important to local communities.

That kind of thing involves a fair concentration of staff and a great deal of effort. Will there be no diminution of that? I would not like to see any. In fact, I would not support anything that involved a diminution of that important service for local communities. Linked to that is the question of editorial control. Can I again be assured in that regard? It would be very remiss of me not to ask. While we are all parochial to a degree about these things, I am very concerned about the staff of The Anglo-Celtand its excellent journalists and editor. We have a lovely community of which they are very much a part. I want to know that the editorial control of the outstanding editor of The Anglo-Celtis in no way diminished. How is that assured in the deal and what protocols are in place?

Lastly, I address the jobs question. I mentioned independence, but I also want to know that the jobs in The Anglo-Celtand the other publications to which I referred are safe. Of course, I mentioned The Anglo-Celtin particular, but one wants the jobs everywhere to survive as they are so important to the fabric of rural Ireland. To lose 100 jobs in rural Ireland is the equivalent of losing perhaps 1,000 jobs in a large metropolitan area. They are irreplaceable. It demoralises a community to lose quality jobs and people. As such, I want to know that the jobs will stay. That is why I addressed to Mr. Mulrennan and others earlier the question of location. I want the jobs to stay on location. Can the witnesses provide me with assurances around the jobs and what is in the protocols there?

We are all on the same page here. We want a diverse, pluralistic and good newspaper service which is accessible to everyone. We want people working on it. With the greatest respect to those who talk about State subsidisation, when one looked last night at the fact that we have people with scoliosis and spinal difficulties waiting to get operations for a long time, I am not sure we can subsidise newspapers in advance of dealing with that. That is a question.