Mr. Jeremy Godfrey:

We are talking here primarily about the rules we have in our media service codes, which apply to the broadcasters in Ireland. We have a whole code on fairness, impartiality and objectiveness in news and current affairs coverage. This has been around for quite a long time and is not a new thing for Coimisiún na Meán. We get a number of complaints when, for example, people say to us they have seen a news programme or listened to a radio programme and they believe it was not fair or objective and so forth. We consider those complaints. With the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 some of the procedural issues have changed a bit but, essentially, when we see the complaints we must decide whether they are valid. In the past we have asked for apologies or for things to be withdrawn and we now have the possibility to impose financial sanctions as well if necessary. That is the main role of the commission. We place an obligation on people to be fair, objective and impartial.