Mr. Conor Goodman:

I want to go back to the Deputy's question on the two-tier point. I will explain a little about business and journalism model of The Irish Timesas a way of addressing that. The Irish Timeswas an early adopter of technology and a pioneer in opening its website in 1994. The other pioneering thing it did was in 2016 when it brought in what is called a metered model. I am sure most of you are familiar with it. It allows you to read a certain amount for free. Every article or almost every article on the website is freely available and then a meter is implemented. When you have read three or four articles per week, you are asked to pay for subsequent articles. This approach enables access to all while also creating an economy and a model that sustains the journalism. In addition, we offer free access to third level students, who can read as much as they want right across the platform. As part of our commitment to education, which goes back a long way, we are also looking at rolling out free access to schools. That requires a little thought - there is a technology and business question around it - but it is something we would like to do as well. It is possible, therefore, to have a digital paid model while also giving people access. That digital model is essential to The Irish Times. It is essential that online journalism is paid for because that allows us to invest. Things like the zero VAT rate, which The Irish Timesjoins others in welcoming, are also important.

What does the public get for what they are paying as digital subscribers and from the reduction in VAT? As an example, they get investment in our network of overseas corespondents. We have just opened, or reopened, a Beijing bureau and we are advertising for a new London editor. Our network of correspondents across Europe is probably the largest of any Irish media outlet. The locations of our correspondents in Brussels, Berlin and Washington, where Irish interests need to be represented, are very important. It is also important to bring stories from those parts of the world to an Irish readership. At this time, it is particularly important to mention our correspondent Daniel McLaughlin in Ukraine, who has been there for many years reporting on one of the nerve centres of the world.

As we go forward, looking at future business models, our international readership is growing in importance; including among the Irish diaspora. That is something that would not have been possible when we had only a printed newspaper which you might be lucky to get in London, or you would have to get through the post a month late in Australia. Now we have a connection to a network of Irish readers all over the world. You can get the same information on your phone at the same time in Dublin, Dubai, Tierra del Fuego or wherever you happen to be. That kind of diasporic journalism is something that has only been enabled by the digital medium. Obviously, there is a huge potential in that medium that was never possible in print. In addition, as others have mentioned, the reach that can be achieved through the digital medium goes far beyond that of the printed paper.