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

Following approval by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, notification of the proposed merger referenced in the question was received by me as Minister on 21 November 2016. I had 30 working days from the notification deadline of 24 November 2016 to conduct an initial assessment, or phase one assessment, of the case on media plurality grounds.

The examination was guided by the relevant criteria laid out in the legislation and by the guidelines on media mergers. The document is available on my Department's website. The examination process laid out in the legislation and the guidelines considered several important criteria or measures, including diversity of ownership in the relevant media sector and in the wider media market, editorial management, governance structures and the financial standings of the parties to the proposed merger.

Following the examination, I had three options under the legislation: to allow the merger to proceed; to allow the merger to proceed with conditions; or to ask the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland to conduct a more in-depth examination, or phase two examination, of the proposed merger.

On completion of the phase one examination, I decided on 10 January 2017 to ask the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland to conduct a full media merger examination of the proposed transaction. Following the BAI examination of the proposed merger, the authority will provide me with a report detailing recommendations on the matter within 80 working days from the date of my request. Furthermore, in accordance with the legislation, I have established an advisory panel to provide an opinion to the BAI on the application of the relevant criteria in the legislation to the media merger in question. Following receipt of the BAI's report and recommendations, I must make a decision to allow the merger to proceed, to allow a decision to proceed with conditions or to refuse to grant my consent.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

As part of the BAI full media merger examination and in accordance with the legislation, the authority has called for public submissions on the proposed merger. I invite any person who is interested in the proposed merger to write to the BAI and express his or her views. The deadline for submissions is 20 working days from the date of my request.

Once the BAI has made its recommendation to me and has provided me with its report, I have a further 20 working days within which I must make a final determination to allow the proposed acquisition to proceed, to allow the proposed acquisition to proceed with conditions or to refuse to allow the proposed acquisition to proceed.

Therefore, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on the case while the examination is ongoing.

See this speech in context