Dr. Michael Foley:

I wish to make a comment based on listening to the contributions this afternoon. It was a pity that the Taoiseach recently seemed to throw out the idea of a commission to look at the future of the media in Ireland.

When listening to the debate and discussion here one is asked to consider an incredibly complex thing. It is not only about saving jobs. It is also about diversity of media, cross-media ownership, the future of the media, advertising and social media. All of these things are in the pot and we are just touching them slightly as it suits whatever argument we might all be making. It is probably time, as Dr. Flynn mentioned, for an inquiry. I remember the last inquiry because I covered it for The Irish Times. It was in 1995, around the time the Irish Presscollapsed. It was a different world. Given the issues that we are discussing here today there should be something far more all-encompassing and far more subtle that will look at how we, as a society, are going to carry on having a healthy democracy with a vibrant media that can fulfil the function it is meant to fulfil.