Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The background to the amendment is the definition of the term "diversity of content". Senator Cullinane's amendment proposes that in considering diversity of content it will be necessary to take account of all views present rather than prevalent. The definition of the term "diversity of content" is taken directly from the Sreenan report, which defines the term as meaning the extent to which the broad diversity of views, including the diversity of views on news and current affairs and diversity of cultural interests prevalent in Irish society, is reflected through the activities of media businesses in the State, including their editorial ethos, content and sources. Replacing the word "prevalent" with the word "present" would change the meaning of the definition because the word "present" is more absolute than the word "prevalent" and it would make the proper measure of diversity extremely complex.
We had a debate on this issue in the Dáil. I understand Senator Cullinane's objective is to have an all-encompassing definition that would ensure every viewpoint would be taken into account. However, when one is trying to interpret diversity of content in terms of determining whether a media merger should proceed, the definition proposed is too absolutist in its terms. For this reason, we relied on the expert report on which this section is based.