Eoghan Harris (Independent)

Senators Buttimer, O'Toole and Butler have rightly drawn our attention to the lack of regulation of banks, the ESB and other companies. Against that background, may I say a word on behalf of the media which have the same role in society as rat catchers or people like Dyno-Rod who clear out sewers? It is not pretty and it is a bit rough and ready, but the truth is that they are the media. May I add, in parentheses, that nobody detests anybody as much as people in the media detest each other. One can be sure that if one section of the media calls something "black", the other will call it "white". However, the media have been doing a good job in this recession by throwing the lantern on many problems that have been neglected by regulators. Because of the media we know stuff about banks and the ESB that we would not normally know. Therefore, in the absence of regulation — or people whose function it was to regulate but who fell down on the job — the media do a very important job. They do the same job the Romans referred to when they talked about Plato's idea that there would be a perfect society in which a group of guardians would control everybody's behaviour. The Romans, who were a sensible people, rightly asked quis custodiet ipsos custodes — who will guard the guardians. The media's function is to guard the guardians. They do it in a rough and ready way, albeit sometimes unpleasantly and they may offend people. They do guard the alleged guardians of our society, however — the so-called regulators whose job was to regulate but who fell asleep on their watch. In recent months, as well as regulating the regulators and guarding the guardians, the media have also performed two other important functions. The media have allowed the public to vent all its anger. That anger, if not vented somewhere, could turn incredibly nasty on our streets. There has been a large outpouring of anger, necessary for lancing the boil. The media have also given us a mass education on our society and political economy. May I say, if not three cheers, at least two cheers for the media.