Tony Kett (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister again. It is becoming a habit. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate. It is a topic involving serious difficulty. I understand why the Minister decided to adopt so much of the advice he received from his consultations, although I heard him being accused of having made up his mind on certain issues. However, it is probably one of the most important pieces of legislation that will pass through the House for some time. I am aware that in taking this on, the Minister is also fulfilling an obligation set out in the Government's programme for 2002.

I recall, as the Minister mentioned, that in the early 1990s the National Newspapers of Ireland published a draft defamation Bill. Bearing that in mind, it is fair to say that this issue has been hanging around for some time. The Bill was largely based on recommendations contained in the Law Reform Commission's report. The Minister referred to that aspect and the differences between them, Some of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission have been adopted by the legal advisory group the Minister established. It is very commendable that they are still considered useful tools 11 years on.

During recent media coverage of the possibility of a press council being established, one could be forgiven for thinking that some journalists and commentators were looking for an absolute right in terms of their responsibilities when giving their views. They argued that freedom of expression should take precedence over every other consideration. In some respects we have seen some of this in recent times in some of the so-called objective reporting. I can recall one incident where I read a newspaper and put it down in total disgust as it was nothing short of character assassination of an individual. The Minister might have been the subject a few weeks later of a similar description, perhaps not as harsh, but equally objectionable.

The idea that society is entitled to a press that should have some standards and act in a reasonable and ethical manner is not a ground-breaking view. Some of those who argue most for a press council will agree with that view. The NUJ, to which Senator O'Meara referred, has a fine code of conduct which requires journalists, among other things, to do nothing which constitutes intrusion into anyone's privacy, unless there is an overriding public reason to do so. However, that code of conduct is probably gathering dust in the NUJ. The media, on the other hand, have no system of self-regulation. If anyone has a legitimate complaint against the press, the only recourse he or she has is right of reply, which will probably find its way onto the back page or the inside back page of the next edition. The only other option is costly litigation, which is not acceptable.