Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would not accept the Minister’s choice of words in saying that it would be "dangerous" outside of the electoral cycle. I do not accept that. We need to be encouraging more political discourse and this is a way of doing so. Throughout this whole debate that we have had on this key point, the point that Senator Malcolm Byrne and I have been advocating for has perhaps been slightly lost in terms of the rules that exist for other media platforms, many of which are already in trouble anyway as entities and may not even be here in ten years’ time. That is the key component.

On the points made by Senator Sherlock, which I respect, on industrial disputes, print media was kingpin in media terms 15 or 20 years ago. It was used quite extensively by very prominent companies in this country in the midst of very creative advertising companies. It did not skew anything. I am a committed trade unionist and am still a trade union member. The point was ensuring that we have a level playing field, no matter what media platform. Therefore, we either accept that we actually have differences between the existing scenario or we are just turning a blind eye to it. The amendment that we have put down is trying to address that.