Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Senator Norris's amendment on this section is not as fundamental as his previous one and might not require a vote. However, the point being raised is whether the membership of the Press Council can be made compulsory. In providing for the circumstance in which a matter of public interest can be a fair and reasonable publication, the section goes on to state, at subsection (2)(f):

in the case of a statement published in a periodical, the extent to which the publisher of the periodical—

(i) adhered to the code of standards of the Press Council or to standards equivalent to those specified in that code of standards, and

(ii) abided by decisions of the Press Ombudsman and determinations of the Press Council.

If I interpret Senator Norris correctly, he is trying to delete all the words that are equivalent. In other words one must either adhere to the code of standards of the Press Council or else one may not avail of this defence at all. That is something I will look at.

Section 24 makes specific reference to the Press Council, and that is to be welcomed. We cannot force periodicals to take up their entitlement to be members of the Press Council and therefore in a sense we are making it mandatory. However, this is a civil matter and it will be possible to look at Senator Norris's amendment. I will consider it for Report Stage.