Mr. Declan McLoughlin:

To make a more general point, while there is the challenge the Chair highlighted, from a regulatory broadcast perspective, all of these advertisements are legal. It is, therefore, difficult for the regulator on its own, without some mandate from the Houses of the Oireachtas, to interfere with the free right to advertise and the right of broadcasters to carry such advertisements. That is not to say there are not challenges. The Chair highlighted that there is a disconnect and it is linked to wider societal disconnect. There are the systemic issues around changing society and Senator O’Reilly asked how we make that modal shift. That will apply to advertising and all sorts of areas. That wider shift is necessary before something like advertising and placement could be addressed by the regulator with that mandate. That is my observation on that point. It is not that there is no willingness but there is the reality of the advertising market and the legality of such advertisements.