Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein)
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37. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he has concerns regarding News Corporation's purchase of Wireless Group radio stations; and his response to the Broadcast Authority of Ireland report on ownership and control of media businesses in Ireland. [21517/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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Under the revised Competition Act 2002 proposed mergers or acquisitions that meet certain criteria must be notified to the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC). The CCPC must then examine the notification and decide if the merger may proceed on competition grounds.Media mergers, as defined in the Act, which have received the CCPC’s determination must also be notified to me as Minister.

Upon notification, a Phase 1 examination of the merger is carried out by my Department. This examination is guided by the relevant criteria laid out in the legislation and by the Guidelines on Media Mergers, both of which are available on my Department’s website.

Following this examination, I have three options under the legislation, which are to allow the merger to proceed, to allow the merger to proceed with conditions or to ask the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) to conduct a more in-depth or Phase 2examination of the proposed merger.

If the latter is the case, then the BAI shall provide me with a report detailing their recommendations on the matter. It is also possible for me, as Minister, to establish an advisory panel to provide an opinion to the BAI on the application of the relevant criteria to the media merger in question.

Following receipt of the BAI’s report and recommendations, I must then make a decision either to allow the merger to proceed, to allow it to proceed with conditions or to refuse to grant my consent.

No notification has been made by the organisations referred to by the Deputy and, therefore, it would not be appropriate for me to provide further comment at this time. That said, I am aware that this merger is currently being considered by the CCPC.

I welcome the BAI Report on Ownership and Control of Media Businesses in Ireland 2012-2014, which is the first of its kind.  Under the revised 2002 Act the BAI are required to produce a report every three years that details the ownership and control arrangements of media business in Ireland and to describe any changes that may have taken place in the intervening years.

In this report, the BAI concludes that there has not been a material reduction in media plurality in the State due to the limited changes in ownership and control in the period 2012-2014. This report which is available on my Department's website, along with other research conducted by the BAI and other organisations, feeds into the Phase 1 examination of media mergers carried out by my Department.