Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his reply. The issue of Mr. Denis O'Brien's Independent News and Media, INM, purchasing the Celtic Media Group is one of the most serious issues facing democracy and the media at this time. I am concerned about whether the Government is taking it seriously enough. There is a great deal of talk about plurality and so on, but are we taking it seriously when we have media moguls with fat wallets running to the courts to silence Members of this House? We need clarity on this.

A European Parliament report was published on the concentration of media ownership in this country. It described Ireland as having "one of the most concentrated media markets of any democracy." An additional report published by KRW Law and Doughty Street Chambers and commissioned by my party colleague, Ms Lynn Boylan, MEP, identified two main controlling entities - RTE, the State broadcaster, and the individual businessman, Mr. Denis O'Brien.

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