Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Taoiseach for his response and for coming some distance with me on this matter. I respectfully suggest the existing Oireachtas committee has too many issues on its agenda. One issue with the existing Oireachtas committees is they are covering too many Departments and too many subject matters. In this case, as the committee must consider natural resources, communications and agriculture, it is covering an enormous spectrum and, in my opinion, it in no way has the capacity to deal with the significant issues that must be reflected on and engaged with by the Oireachtas. For example, the report of the advisory group on media mergers illustrated the dramatic changes that have occurred, through technology, to the broadcast and print media. Howsoever the Oireachtas responds to this issue, the group established by it, be it a sub-committee, a separate group or as I have suggested, a commission, should have a status that befits the importance of the issue. It also should be afforded the time, the backup and the resources to give comprehensive deliberation and treatment to this issue in the Oireachtas.

This will be extremely important, given the nature of a fast-moving world, given what Members now know and given what has happened in other jurisdictions both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. It also is important because regardless of whether one likes it, confidence in public sector broadcasting has been undermined. I am a great believer in public sector broadcasting and passionately believe in it. While I want it to hold forth into the future as an important pillar to our democracy, one cannot continue blindly in the face of the realities that have been revealed. This demands a more sustained and serious response from the Oireachtas.

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