Mr. Peter Feeney:

A couple of years ago we considered reviewing the three-month requirement. We looked at 25 other press councils in Europe. Three months is about average. One or two of them had a six-month period and one or two had a period of one year but three months was more or less the average. One of the reasons for it is that editors feel that the journalist who wrote it may have moved on after three months. It may have been a freelance journalist with whom the publication no longer has contact, which would be difficult to deal with.

A point in support of what Deputy Devlin is asking is that the impact of inaccuracy may remain after three months if it is online. If I published something more than three months ago in a newspaper it is quite possible it can be googled six months, a year or two years later. There is an issue with the effectiveness of Google that material can be found one, two or five years later. When we receive complaints from people about things published more than three months ago we advise them of their right to be forgotten under European legislation. We have a pamphlet we give them on how they go about getting material taken down if it is inaccurate under the right to be forgotten. It is a bit daunting a task I confess to try to take down something.