Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I disagree with both the Minister and Senator Bacik. As someone who worked in the media for quite a number of years, I know there are many people who are members of the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, from many different areas who would be accredited as journalists. I do not agree a District Court judge would know all of the journalists or those who would hold an NUJ card in an area. I cite the example of these Houses, where there is accreditation for any journalist who works here. No journalist can walk in the gates without some form of accreditation. Some journalists try to blag their way into the All-Ireland final and will not get away with it because they must have accreditation in advance if they want to report on a GAA match. If the GAA and the Houses of the Oireachtas can put in place a system of accreditation, I cannot see why the Courts Service cannot have a similar system of accreditation where a bona fide person interested in covering court cases could apply to the service for accreditation as a reporter. It would be easy to implement and the media are used to such protocols being put in place. As someone who worked in the media for a number of years, we had to apply for accreditation for major events such as concerts or matches. It is no big deal and it would be a positive step to put this safeguard in place. I will, however, take on board the Minister's note on the wording of regulation and, based on the fact, we might look at it again on Report Stage. I will withdraw the amendment, but the principle must be examined.