Dr. Michael Foley:

To comment on Reporters Without Borders, I am actually one of the people who is quizzed every year on this and I know for a fact that it is what the committee is doing here that is one of the reasons we are number two in the world. That is because, more or less, there is a promise there is going to be reform of libel. That is very much what has happened. I have watched this and the move started as we got better.

It started with the sale of Independent Newspapers (Ireland) Limited, which addressed monopolies. Then there was the Future of Media Commission review, and then the issue of libel. Libel has always been one of the issues which has kept this country down the list in European terms. I remember saying to the people who were talking to me on the phone that this is coming in. The report is out. There is draft legislation and it is coming. They were taking the word of people like me and others.

I suspect there might be others in this room who are part of this process. We are very confident it is coming in. It has gone too far to just be dumped now. A change of government might have an impact on that, but that is not going to happen for a while. This has an impact on it, and that is why we are number two. Who knows, if this gets through quickly we might even get number one.

On the SLAPPs, I am afraid the answer is "No". There will be two issues. I remember one time when I worked inThe Irish Times, many years ago, at one of the NUJ meetings somebody suggested that we have a list that comes up on the computer system showing who is currently taking action against us. We did not call them SLAPPs at the time, but it was so we would know who were the bastards who were going after us.