John Whelan (Labour)

My question is whether the Minister will come before the House at the earliest opportunity to set out his plans regarding legislation on media ownership because the issue of cross ownership of broadcasting and print media is important. Many Members might not be aware that even small local and regional newspapers such as the Kilkenny People and the Limerick Leader are no longer locally owned and are not even owned by people in the country. This requires urgent investigation and legislation to ensure we have a free and open press.