Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail)
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I welcome all the witnesses to what is an extremely important and topical matter that we have consistently dealt with over the course of this Oireachtas term. The witnesses and Deputy Ring made the point about whether governments are doing enough. The fact is that during this term we have at least seen a Government try to tackle this issue. That is very important. Legislation has been introduced and there has been engagement, which Ms McGinley mentioned. The Government, including the Taoiseach and the Minister for Education, has engaged with these platforms. That is a very important step. I wanted to say that at the outset.

In the broader sense of what we are discussing, I sometimes smile because disinformation is not new. It is just that the platform is different. Any reasonable analysis of the tabloid battles in the UK in the eighties will show it was no different then. It is just a different platform. It is just a different product in terms of how it is being conveyed. Even within that, there is nuance. This is why it is important, and Ms Chapman raised this previously, to understand media literacy. There is obviously a difference in slant. That is very pronounced in a country like the UK where, depending on whether somebody buys The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, The Mirror or The Sun, there is a different slant on what is still, fundamentally, basic news. There are lies beyond that. We also see that in the USA election in respect of Fox News, CNN and the various news channels.

We are very lucky in Ireland. I point to the recent digital news report. Dr. Murphy did an analysis of people's interest in news as well. I will start with him. The report noted that there was a significant difference between those aged 18 to 24 and those aged over 65 when it comes to interest in news. It registered at 30% for those aged 18 to 24 and 73% for those aged 65 and over. That goes back to Ms Chapman's point on media literacy. That is the issue. What is Dr. Murphy's professional analysis of those stats? What is his sense, from walking around campus, of the genuine interest of young people in accessing news and where they access their news?