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

I want an independent media and do not want it to be hamstrung by our defamation laws. I accept that there is a commitment on this in the programme for Government. I ask the Taoiseach to tell us when he thinks that commitment will be fulfilled by way of legislation. That said, I would have thought that asking the Future of Media Commission to look at this area would have enriched rather than diminished its work.

Financial sustainability is related to advertising revenue and there is no doubt that the amount of advertising revenue that is now diverted to social media platforms, some of which do not generate content, is an obvious issue for the commission to examine because financial sustainability of media cannot be guaranteed without income sources. Obviously RTÉ is our primary public service broadcaster but I hope that the commission will not primarily focus on the sustainability of RTÉ but will have a much wider remit. I do not see how that can happen if it does not look at advertising revenue, particularly in print media. Practical experience of the day-to-day problems in the sustainability of local, regional and national titles would have enriched the work of the commission and I am surprised that the make-up of the commission does not include that type of expertise.

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