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

We debated this proposal in the other House and on Committee Stage here. It goes back to the recommendations of the mergers group which clearly used the term "prevalent". This is about defining "diversity of content". If one uses the word "present", it will require the itemisation of every single strand of thought and a decision on whether these strands are represented in the context of an individual media merger. That would be impractical, whereas use of the term "prevalent" indicates that a judgment must be made. This will be done through an advisory group which will advise the Minister and include broad consultation, including consultation with the Oireachtas. Therefore, all parties will have the opportunity to express a view where it is considered a particular point of view is not being adequately represented or which might be jeopardised by a merger.

"Present" is far too fine a definition. It would make it a very complex operation to decide what views were present in the first place, let alone to determine whether a merger would compromise them. The provision was drawn up with good reason by those who had done the work and I am not disposed to move away from a practical approach which requires an exercise of judgment in an individual case as opposed to a broad indication of what is desirable in terms of diversity of content.