Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett has requested permission to have his question take by Deputy Bríd Smith. Permission has been given.

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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44. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to outline his views on the future of media plurality here in view of the existing proposals with regard to the sale of a company (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5811/17]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I welcome the Minister back to the House. I hope he is feeling better. I assume his accident is the reason he is standing all the time. It is an awful thing to be knocked off the bike. Anyway, the Minister is in one piece.

I am sorry the Minister has missed the debates in the committee in the past week or so. The debates have been hot and heavy over our concern with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, and the proposed merger between Celtic Media Group and Independent News and Media. What is the Minister's position on this merger in terms of the plurality of regional media in the country?

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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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.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I was going to ask the Minister if he had appointed the advisory panel. Can the Minister tell the House who he has appointed to the advisory panel?

The discussion on media plurality was really interesting despite the fact that there was some conflict, in particular, about the presence of Deputy Lowry on the committee. I seldom have seen the Deputy attending the committee but he was in attendance. Some of us, including academics who gave witness, expressed the view that he had a conflict of interest by being there.

This is really about the cross-ownership and control of vested interests in various communications companies, including Communicorp and Independent News and Media. Now possibly, Celtic Media Group will be subject to ownership to a large degree by Denis O’Brien. We believe there may be an excessive degree of influence and control on print broadcasting and online media in the country. We need to be serious in dealing with our recommendations. We have a difficulty at the moment with the question of whether the committee will issue a recommendation because of the varying views. It would be helpful if the Minister could tell us who he has chosen for the advisory panel.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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I will set out the answer to that question. The names of the members of the advisory panel are as follows: John Horgan, former Press Ombudsman and a media academic at Dublin City University; Marie McGonagle, a retired academic from NUI Galway and Peggy Valcke, a Belgian media plurality and competition expert.

Mr. John Horgan has agreed to be the chairperson of that panel. I know that the committee has commenced hearings. There is a function and role with regard to the BAI process for the committee to participate in this. I look forward to the response from the committee on this issue. What I have to do in this process is laid out in law in black and white. I am waiting for the BAI to come back with its report. The decision will then lie with me on that. I have answered questions in the House in the past on the issue of media plurality and I am conscious of all of the issues that have been raised.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I thank the Minister for all of his answers. I am not advising the Minister but I do hope that he reads the submissions, particularly from the academics, because the stark reality of the takeover of media in this country is quite shocking. For example, between 2005 and 2016, there were 90 takeovers. This is the first takeover to actually be scrutinised. That is very serious. That is probably a consequence of the legislation that was passed quite recently, but it goes to show how these things can creep up and have quite a serious impact and serious consequences. Albeit the appeal this morning was to save the jobs in regional media, there are some on the committee who believe that while we should attempt to save the jobs, if necessary by some sort of public intervention, we should not compromise the role of media in maintaining local democracy, its plurality and its social and political role in Irish life.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am trying to accommodate as many Members as possible. The Minister has one minute.

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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It is the first merger to be scrutinised. The reason for that is the legislation is very new. I am the first Minister to do that. The State will not be subsidising any media outlet or newspaper in this country. However, there is a broader issue with regard to how we encourage quality journalism. It is an issue I have addressed in the past and with which I am actively engaged at the moment. I believe it is important that we have responsible media outlets and that we can trust the output that comes from those outlets, particularly now in an era of social media and instant messaging. There is a broad area there of which I am very conscious.

Finally, I do not want it to be raised that I did not-----

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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I am trying to accommodate-----

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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A further merger has come before me. That is the BBC-ITV joint venture, BritBox. That was notified to the Department on the last day of January.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I do not think the journalists are the problem.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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We are finished, Deputy.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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The quality of journalism is not the problem.