Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

-----and I just wanted to place that fact on the record of the House. I think we are all in agreement in respect of the many representations we have received from people who have been so badly affected by what happened in this instance.

I accept that we will engage in a debate on another day on a motion concerning the commission of investigation into the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation. That said, I welcome the Government's announcement last week to the effect that such a commission would be established to investigate IBRC transactions. I also wish to place on record my commendation in respect of Deputy Catherine Murphy who, through her use of freedom of information and parliamentary questions, has unearthed a great deal of information regarding IBRC. I welcome that there is going to be a commission of investigation into transactions carried out by IBRC. I particularly welcome the fact the question of Department of Finance oversight in circumstances where there were more than €10 million worth of losses to the public will be examined. We all await with great interest the publication of the commission's terms of reference.

I understand that one of the matters before the Cabinet for decision today is the approval of media merger guidelines put forward by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Alex White. I request that when those guidelines are approved, the House should engage in a debate on media mergers and concentration of ownership in media. This has become a matter of particular importance in the aftermath of the court case taken by Denis O'Brien and the order made by Mr. Justice Donald Binchy, which was clarified last week when the Seanad was not sitting. I am of the view that a number of issues concerning the concentration of media ownership in the hands of one individual should be discussed in the House. It would be useful to engage in a debate on the matter in light of the media merger guidelines submitted to the Cabinet for approval.

I also wish to request a debate on the Amnesty International report, She Is Not a Criminal, the launch of which I attended earlier today, and which report relates to Ireland's highly restrictive abortion law. It highlights the breaches of international human rights law facilitated by our highly restrictive abortion law, especially the eighth amendment of the Constitution. The report calls for the repeal of that amendment, a call I have made on many occasions. Repeal of the eighth amendment is Labour Party policy.