Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Naughten, and I hope he is semi-recovered, at the very least.

We are very pleased to bring this Bill before the House today. The Bill is short because it is deliberately focused. Of course, while we know there is a range of measures to be addressed in the media area, we believe this group of points must be prioritised as a matter of urgency. In the first instance, there is a major problem in that there is a lack of any kind of a database which details exactly who owns what on the media landscape in Ireland. This applies across all platforms, including the digital, broadcast and print media, and it urgently needs to be addressed.

The regulatory measures cannot just be about box ticking. There will either be regulation that works or there will not, and it is obvious it is not currently working. The regulations have been found wanting at the first ask, which surely indicates the need for urgent change. The regulations were introduced in 2015 and set a maximum figure of 20% for a significant interest test, and anything above that was deemed to pose a threat to the public interest. The issue is a topical one at present, not least because of the proliferation of fake news and fears for the objectivity of the press internationally. It is also topical at home because we are in the process of a public consultation in the context of the proposed acquisition of the Celtic Media group by Independent News and Media, the dominant print media company in Ireland.

The issue is not new. It is important in a much wider context and has been unsuccessfully handled for decades due to Government inaction on the issue of media plurality. In its plainest definition, media plurality is defined as ensuring there is a diversity of opinion available across media outlets and preventing any one media owner or voice having too much influence over public opinion and the political agenda. Many issues were raised at the communications committee yesterday, an important one being the sustainability of titles if this merger does not go ahead. However, what of sustainability if the merger does go ahead? We know employment practices and working conditions have changed dramatically at INM, with significant functions being outsourced to the UK, resulting in job losses here. For example, there was a loss of 16 jobs in the print setting function and the work of photographers will be used across a number of titles, which will reduce the amount of work they get and the sustainability of their employment. Of course, the recent example of the treatment of the INM pensioners shows the position of workers' rights within that company. In addition, this business model puts pressure on the viability of neighbouring titles, which will ultimately further reduce diversity.

Plurality is not simply defined by plurality of opinions. It is also defined as diversity of persons with control of a media business so as to mitigate against one news provider becoming so powerful that it exerts too great an influence on the opinion-forming of citizens and of the political agenda. It is accepted that the media has a crucial role in the creation and sustainability of well formed and healthy democracies. One of the safest ways to protect against fake news or partisan reporting is to do everything in our power to protect the diversity of ownership on the media landscape.

As I said, it is not a new issue. As far back as 1973 the National Union of Journalists expressed concerns regarding media plurality.While there have been various flashpoints over the years, effectively, nothing has changed. There is an ever-increasing concentration of ownership in the hands of a smaller and smaller number of entities. The most obvious of these flashpoints was in 1996, when a commission on the newspaper industry in Ireland was established following the Irish Pressgroup closure. In a reply in December of that year, following the report of the commission, Deputy Richard Bruton, who was the Minister with responsibility at the time, said: "The social, political and cultural role of the indigenous newspaper industry which distinguishes it from other industries consists primarily in its duty and in its ability to reflect a sense of national identity in an informative, integrative but also critical fashion." The report of the commission itself warned: "any further reduction of titles or increase in the concentration of ownership in the indigenous newspaper industry could severely curtail the diversity required to maintain a vigorous democracy." That was 21 years ago and those points appear to have been forgotten, as we watch the ownership of the media become concentrated in fewer and fewer hands.

Even within our public broadcaster, the informative, integrative and critical element can all too often be questioned. We know that RTE dominates the broadcast media in Ireland, yet there are legitimate concerns as to how panels are chosen, the diversity of opinion and even issues such as the gender make-up of programmes. Of course, there are some superb journalists working in the industry and there are fantastic examples of good journalism being practised here.

This week there was the "RTE Investigates" documentary. There have been superb pieces of work by journalists such as Peter Murtagh in The Irish Times, Justine McCarthy in The Sunday Timesonline, Tom Lyons in The Sunday Business Postand Paul Melia in the Irish Independent. I could go on naming people. It is important not to let the bigger concerns regarding diversity cast a shadow over the work of individual journalists who continue to provide impartial and objective journalism. However, we cannot ignore the very clear warning signs heralded by many of those journalists working in the industry. Eoghan Harris, in a notable example, wrote a piece in the Sunday Independent explaining why he felt he could not write anything on the Siteserv scandal in the Sunday Independent. Sam Smyth wrote in his Mail on Sundaycolumn that when the management changed in Today FM, management instructed him not to discuss the Moriarty tribunal or the mobile phone licence which had been won by the station's new owner. Anne Harris claimed she came under pressure for her editorial line while editing the Sunday Independent. Those warning signs are easy to address with a very simple move by the Government to make it clear that nobody who already exerts too great an influence in media ownership outlets will be allowed to increase that influence and, where it has proven to be too great an influence, it will take the necessary steps to rectify that situation in the public interest. Regulation is vital and Government most certainly has a regulatory role. The Ryanair-Aer Lingus share issue was one pretty good example. The intention of the recently introduced rent regulations capping increases at 4% is correct, although the system is flawed. It is in the public interest and satisfies the public interest test.

The business model for the newspaper industry in the early part of the 2000s relied heavily on the construction and property sector for advertisement. That model was unsustainable for the media industry in the same way as it was unsustainable for the economy and Irish society. The construction sector effectively became the paymasters. It is not fake news; it is a fact to say that the same construction and property sector was one of Fianna Fáil’s biggest funders. When election time came, funding came out to play, giving Fianna Fáil the opportunity to run huge advertisements in the local and national media. It effectively gave that party a competitive advantage and further contributed to the proliferation of groupthink that was so evident during the boom and ensuing crash. I am reminded of a quote by the former Fianna Fáil Minister for Defence, Paddy Power, who was very funny and could always find a way of capturing something. He might not appreciate me rehashing something he said. I might even be quoting from the wrong piece of scripture because I am not particularly au faitwith it. I think he said it was about St. Paul on the road from Damascus. He repeated this over and over again, "Lord, make me pure but not just yet." I can hear him saying it even now. He might have been describing Fianna Fáil, which continually says it wants to be principled but it is really a hostage to pragmatism. If Fianna Fáil Deputies agrees with the principle of media plurality, they have to vote in favour of this Bill. If they disagree, they should vote against it but they should not insult us by abstaining. The Second Stage debate is the debate on the principle. Committee Stage is where we make the amendments. We have supported legislation that Fianna Fáil has put forward on that very basis, where we have concerns. We are perfectly willing to accept amendments. We hope this Bill gives the Government the opportunity to make the simple declaration of intent with regards to protecting media plurality in Ireland.

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