Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I understand the report referred to was published last Monday. I was not furnished with a copy in advance of its publication, which means that I am not in a position to respond comprehensively to its findings.

As the Deputy is aware, the current media mergers regime was introduced by the 2014 revision of the Competition Act 2002 and is operated by my Department. This was in recognition of the fact that having free and pluralistic media was an essential component of a modern representative democracy. An important part of the current regime is the requirement on the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, to prepare, every three years, a report on the ownership and control arrangements of media businesses in Ireland and to describe any change that may have taken place in the period since any previous report. In June this year I published the first such report from the BAI entitled, Report on Ownership and Control of Media Businesses in Ireland 2012-2014.  In the report which is available on my Department's website the BAI concludes that there has not been a material reduction in media plurality in the State due to the limited changes in ownership and control in the period 2012 to 2014.

To answer the Deputy's specific question, I have not read the report. It was presented by Ms Lynn Boylan, MEP, at the European Parliament at the beginning of October. It would have been helpful to include a copy when the parliamentary question was submitted. In fact, my Department was not presented with a copy and had to download it from a news website during the week. We received it within the past 48 hours and are going through it. I understand it refers to the domination of two media outlets, one controlled by an individual and the other being RTE.

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