Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I concur with what Senator Carrigy said. I also have experience of being on the retailer side of things, and of having to go in at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. to put the inserts into the different newspapers when all those deliveries arrive on a Sunday morning. Then there is the job with the returns as well. Perhaps we could examine this issue with the intention of making it a little easier for retailers to deliver the sales pitch for the witnesses' newspapers. I am sure Mr. O'Reilly will have something to say on this.

Things have changed a little, but I have feedback in this regard, as well as my own experience. This may be a matter we need to look at in respect of making it easier and thereby ensuring retailers do not decide to stop getting two staff members to come in the morning, before the shop doors are even opened, to prepare the newspapers, put the inserts in and then have them out on the shelves, not forgetting the requirement, when 10 p.m. comes, another hour must be spent doing returns, filling out the forms and stacking the newspapers and putting them outside. Something must be done to ensure we do not end up in the situation we heard about earlier, where we walk into convenience stores to find newspapers were no longer being sold.