Michael Moynihan (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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127. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources the latest developments concerning media merger guidelines; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22977/15]

Alex White (Dublin South, Labour)
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On 9 June 2015 I published the finalised Guidelines on Media Mergers and the associated Notification Form in accordance with Section 28L of the Competition Act 2002 as amended by the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014. The draft Guidelines were developed by my Department working with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation as well as media experts from academia. In accordance with the Act the guidelines were published in draft form for public consultation on 8 December 2014. A number of submissions were received which were given full consideration by the Department in finalising the Guidelines.

The guidelines are designed to provide interested parties with insight on how the new media mergers regulatory process will work including information on who is required to apply, the notification process, an explanation of how media mergers will be examined and the relevant criteria that will help inform the Minister when making his determination. The guidelines also include a definition of ‘significant interest’ and metrics that will be used to identify when a holding in a media business represents a ‘significant interest’.

The Guidelines must be viewed as a living document; as experience is gathered dealing with the new media mergers process and lessons are learned from both regulatory and industry perspectives, and as the BAI conducts its research under the Act, changes may be made to improve the value of the Guidelines and reflect refinements in the regime.