Dr. Jane Suiter:

In terms of best practice, everybody is looking at this at the moment so it is a very live issue. Some of the best guidance is coming out of the EU. It is important to note the EU's Digital Services Act is likely to make provisions in this regard. It could happen that because of the way the Bill is currently drafted it would need to be redrafted in order to take that into account. We very much need to look at this. I can send the committee links to the various European documents, if the Chair wishes. However, it will be important to ensure the Bill is in line with European legislation which is most likely coming down the track this year. It would be a pity to do something that would then have to be changed in light of changes in Europe. That is probably the main area where most of the European legislation is coming from. Notably, that calls for it to be a year-round affair with perhaps additional measures during an election period, rather than only having measures during an election period. It is also very strong on the transparency issue.

This brings me to the third question posed. The platforms make these databases available almost in real time. They are updated at least once a day, if not two or three times a day. It would seem odd to us that the Bill would state they be made available afterwards given that they are made available by the platforms in real time. It would seem to make sense to use that capability and make them available in real time as well through the electoral commission. There does not seem to be a particularly good reason to hold those back until afterwards.

I will let Dr. Reidy address the issue of flexibility. Regarding the broadcasting regulations, some of those are governed by court judgments on topics such as balance, while some are BAI regulations. Operational and editorial decisions, such as who is allowed to be in a debate, are internal editorial matters for RTÉ, and I am not sure that area would be within the purview of an electoral commission. It is an editorial decision. Perhaps there could be negotiation on best practice guidelines but I am not sure that aspect should be in legislation as it would seem to be micromanagement of the media process.