Brian Hayes (Fine Gael)

It is not an issue that relates only to celebrities and those who are in the public eye. It concerns also those who are not routinely and regularly in the public eye but whose lives are paraded on the front pages of newspapers. We need a genuine press complaints system whereby complaints regarding intrusions into privacy will be taken seriously and adjudicated upon by independently minded people.

Standards in journalism are important not only for the safety of our democracy but also to ensure that the records of the State are held on a daily basis. Where standards drop to such an abysmal level, whereby people's private lives are paraded in an unseemly fashion on a daily basis, we must cry halt as soon as we can. The House has a fine record of debating such issues and I call for such a debate. More importantly, the Government, in consultation with the newspaper industry, must move forward on this issue.