Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I join my colleagues in welcoming the broad intent of the Bill. I understand why the Deputies have proposed this legislation. While its intention is good, we must consider the impact the legislation will have. We agree that media plurality is vitally important for a number of reasons. We know we must ensure that we have a diverse media and that it is independent and can provide the public service it has provided for many years. This public service, providing news and information in detail to the public, allows us to have a properly functioning democracy, something we all value, particularly those in this House as parliamentarians. Every day we see democracy in action. We see the work the Parliament does and know the vital role the media play.

However, we must also ask ourselves why this merger is taking place in the first place. Many small news publications are struggling to come to terms with the changes happening in the media today.

One of those publications is one of my local papers, TheConnaught Telegraph. It provides a very good news service which means a great deal to the community, but there are several jobs at stake as well. We cannot forget that people are employed in several of the publications which are the subject of this merger. The media is changing. While I do not think this Bill is constitutional or will solve the problem, it starts the conversation and allows us talk about the changes in media and how we want to address those. It also raises the question of what the State should do to help with that change and ensure we have a vibrant, functioning media that continues to provide a public service.

I share the Deputies' concerns as I do those expressed by many Deputies and media commentators as to the potential for one or more individuals to have too much influence over or ownership of our media. I fully appreciate the challenges and the difficulties this could bring to our democracy and country and want to address this issue. We have probably let the ball drop on this matter and it has probably progressed too far for us to address what happened in the past. I want to work with them to address the issue but we cannot ignore the fact that retrospective law is bad law. I know the Deputies have put forward the public interest argument. If, however, we take it on this issue, where do we stop? Retrospective law means that something which is fine today will be illegal tomorrow. As citizens we must ensure we know the laws we operate within daily. If I do something today that I believe is legal and am told tomorrow that it is not, this presents an array of difficulties and challenges and we should not get into that area.

Deputy Catherine Murphy said that Fianna Fáil is a hostage to pragmatism. Being pragmatic means doing things sensibly and realistically. I hope and always aspire to be pragmatic in my work as a legislator. We have to be because the laws we pass affect the citizens outside this House. Being pragmatic, realistic and sensible about how we do our work should be the cornerstone of how we legislate.

I disagree that we can address concerns raised here today on Committee Stage because amendments will never address the unconstitutional issues this Bill presents. The Deputies have failed to address adequately the serious constitutional concerns raised in the House. This was brought to their attention prior to today's debate. As Deputy Dooley pointed out, they have also failed to address the serious financial implications of this Bill for the Exchequer were it to be passed. These are serious concerns that deserve to be addressed and I do not see how they can be addressed on Committee Stage.

The talk about fake news and recent campaigns in other democracies have brought this issue to the fore, but we cannot react irrationally. We must maintain a properly functioning democracy. We must work to ensure all our legislation is properly passed and scrutinised and that we consider the implications of that legislation post enactment. The Deputies have failed to consider properly the implications for the jobs of the individuals concerned in, and the communities served by, all those titles subject to this merger.

While I join my colleagues in commending the intention behind the Bill and sharing the Deputies' concern about media ownership in this country, and while I agree with Deputy Dooley that we need to work together to address this issue, the Minister was correct when he spoke about the need to resource our media and journalists properly. In recent years journalists do not appear to have time to be journalists. The push and the demand is to get news out immediately. It can often be at the expense of verifying whether the information is correct. This is a broader issue that we as a Parliament need to address seriously because it is spiralling out of control. While I appreciate the concern in respect of this merger, one of the good things that bringing this Bill to the House has done is to highlight the question of how to protect a properly functioning media to ensure we have a properly functioning democracy. Fianna Fáil will abstain on this Bill for the clear reason that we support the intention behind the Bill but we cannot support its unconstitutional aspects, knowing it is bad law and will not address the issues the Deputies seek to address.

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