Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Kyne about using those assets to which he referred. Ba mhaith liom dhá ábhar a ardú.

I was fortunate enough to be at the launch last week of Pandemonium, the book by Jack Horgan-Jones and Hugh O'Connell. I have started to read the book, which is quite well written, and tells the story of the events of the past two years. Unlike certain other journalists, they do not put themselves at the heart of the story and they allow others to tell it. It does stress again the importance of trusted journalism and evidence-based research to provide the stories the media tell us. I am very conscious that we are in an era where we have seen Elon Musk buy Twitter. There is a big debate around plurality within the media. I remain concerned about the fact that we still have not seen sight of the report of the Future of Media Commission. We will be debating the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill again this afternoon, but we have been promised this report by the Government for many months at this stage.It is not about the Government having to accept all the commission's recommendations but that the findings of that report would inform a debate. I am asking that we schedule a debate in this House around the future of media and journalism. It is essential. We have seen the importance of combatting fake news and information. We have seen the importance of trusted journalism. Many media outlets in this country are under pressure. We need to have that full debate.

I also want to return to the issue of Seanad reform. I am conscious that Senator McDowell is in the House. The first Bill that I brought to Second Stage here was on the question of enacting the seventh amendment to the Constitution which was passed 43 years ago extending the franchise to other higher education graduates. We rightly celebrate the many new technological universities around the country and the rapid expansion of higher education and yet we still have not had progress on the issue of addressing the broader franchise on the universities panel. I support broader Seanad reform but I want to highlight again the lack of progress. The Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, indicated that he thought that as part of the electoral commission Bill, we would see some progress on this but nothing has been put forward as part of that Bill as yet. I would ask that time be set aside so that we can have a discussion around extending that franchise and on the broader question of Seanad reform.