Ms Susan McKay:

I am very happy to have been invited to submit to the committee. I look forward to making submissions to the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media. Although the Press Council of Ireland is very determinedly independent of Government, clearly a large part of the business of the press involves reporting the activities that go on in these buildings and in county and city councils around the country. It is very important, therefore, that we remain well-informed about the way we work. It is important that all decision-makers are aware of the role of the Press Council of Ireland and the Office of the Press Ombudsman because it really is a way of keeping democracy healthy. If we look at what has happened in some countries to the freedom of the press, we have a lot to guard and safeguard here. It is very important we keep public servants aware of just how important the proper and independent functioning of the press and the Press Council of Ireland are to our democracy. There is a lot of extremely dangerous stuff circulating on social media now which is being believed by people who are not reading credible material that has gone through an editorial process. We need to counteract that and make sure newspapers and online media publications can produce material which is attractive and credible, particularly to younger people.