Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I understand the concerns that Senators Sherlock and Higgins have expressed. At the outset, I should have thanked the Minister and her officials. A great deal of work has gone into this Bill and we are grateful for all their assistance.

In this amendment, we are talking about a level playing field. The reality at the moment is that Amazon has no problem with taking out adverts on all social media channels if it wants to. The trade unions can equally do so, including in newspapers. This amendment is about a level playing field, in that the same rules would apply to broadcast media. As Senator Cassells outlined, it is not a question of moving to a US-type situation – the sector certainly needs to be regulated and codified – but of having a level playing field. Traditional broadcast media are losing out at the moment. Trócaire, a trade union or a political party cannot take out an advert on a local radio station or with a national broadcaster, but such entities can spend as much as they want on social media advertising. The proposal in the amendment is to remove that restriction. A code certainly has to be put in place to set out what kinds of information and advertisements can be broadcast, but the proposal is more about levelling the playing field than about trying to restrict any sort of political voice.