Mr. Séamus Dooley:

The Deputy has explained the media situation but first I must declare an interest because I started in The Midland Tribunein Birr, County Offaly. That paper has been taken over the same company that took over two titles in Tipperary, as well as newspapers in Limerick, Kildare and Offaly. That is a consequence of the political failure to deal with the concentration of ownership. That is a reality. The other political failure is the failure to grant the right to trade union recognition and collective representation because the company that has taken over those titles and merged a number of titles, through merger by default, through common pages and all the rest of it. That has happened because there has been no right to trade union representation. There are consequences for media diversity. One needs plurality. One needs a number of titles in the same region to ensure that courts and news are covered. One needs that kind of vibrant reporting because one needs to read differences of opinion and differences in focus. Regional papers in this country are in a particularly precarious position.

Recently, the Government announced its nationwide resilience campaign. What is significant in the criteria for that national media advertising campaign is that one sector is missing, namely, newspapers. If we want to talk about Government support, then one must recognise that regional newspapers need it. They do not seek handouts. They need it because, like the local radio stations, they remain relevant. The people who read the Meath Chronicleor The Tullamore Tribuneare the people who are in rural areas that rely on print media and local radio. It is not a case of one or the other, as they are both hugely important.