Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House, particularly when he is in the middle of difficulties in his Department. We will not add to those difficulties today because they are being dealt with in the Dáil. I respect the Minister for coming in today knowing that these issues might be discussed or considered. He has also outlined to the House the current situation regarding the proposed acquisition by INM of Celtic Media. The Minister will be aware that on 7 February 2017, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment spent a considerable period of time taking submissions which we were then to submit to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland under competition legislation from 2002. We held public sessions that were attended by Robert Pitt, the then CEO of INM; Gerry Lennon, managing director of INM regionals; Frank Mulrennan, CEO of Celtic Media; and Séamus Dooley, secretary of the National Union of Journalists. We spent a considerable period of time-----