Mr. Frank Mulrennan:

I thank the Chairman.

With regard to Deputy Smith's question on the Celtic Media newspapers being seriously challenged by Independent News and Media, I need, and it is reasonable, to differentiate between national titles and the local newspaper industry that we operate in. INM has no local titles in our areas. That was one of the factors that very much impressed the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission. Therefore, INM titles did not make life in any way difficult for us. In fact, through Local Ireland, which is the representative body, we are very supportive of each other in terms of marketing the strength of a local newspaper brand. INM sits on that along with landmark and iconic newspapers, including the Tuam Heraldand The Nenagh Guardian, and ourselves. There are strengths to it. There is tremendous loyalty. The Deputy may have heard about a newspaper that goes back to 1846. There is tremendous brand strength but the business dynamic is seriously challenged.

INM has not been our problem. RTE is a bigger problem, in truth. This committee often deals with broadcasting and communications. We are finding it awfully hard to make any sort of money from digital because of, for example, a State-subsidised website. The Westmeath Independenthas terrific web traffic for the relatively small newspaper it is. The Meath Chroniclehas probably one of the best trafficked websites and Facebook reach of any newspaper in the country but it is so hard to make money from them because we are competing against Facebook and Google and possibly RTE.

Is it a basket case? Those were not my words but that the business model is broken. I have a responsibility to do whatever I can to rebuild that business model and to secure the jobs of the people I work with. A two thirds decline in advertising and a one third decline in circulation is a huge pressure. They are our only two cogent sources of revenue because digital is not a great source of revenue. It is a cost. I regret the fact that since January, we have halved our investment in digital. Mr. Carey is actively annoyed with me for that but we have to pull in our cost reins. The longer this sale goes on, the more things like that I am going to have to do.

I was asked why INM would want to acquire, which is a horrible word, or get involved with Celtic Media newspapers if it is a challenged business model. The only future for newspapers in this country is through us aggregating our digital strengths. That is going to take investment. In many ways, yes, we have great brands. The Westmeath Examinergoes back to 1882. The Anglo-Celtgoes back to 1846. The Connaught Telegraph, a newspaper we bought out of liquidation in 2014, when we saved 12 jobs, goes back to 1828. This is not Romeo and Juliet stuff, with respect. This is cold commercial reality.

Independent News and Media needs to extend a digital footprint, which is very important because we need resources to invest in digital services. We also need marketing resources because we are not spending on marketing. We have great brands but we are not spending on them. Far from being a Romeo and Juliet story, this is a matter of survival.

On the issue of pensions, which was raised by Deputy Bríd Smith, there is no pension issue in the Celtic Media Group or Celtic Media Newspapers. A defined contribution scheme has been in place in the company for a number of years. Pension schemes are challenged from time to time but we are far removed from the other issues that have been raised. We have our own pension scheme in place.