Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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15. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources if he has considered the influence of a media group (details supplied) on the overall Irish media landscape and, in particular, the local media landscape, when analysing the proposed purchase by the group of a newspaper; his views on the proposed acquisition of the newspaper by the media group; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [31835/16]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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While I am aware that the proposed purchase of the Celtic Media Group by Independent News & Media is currently being considered by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, I have no role in relation to the proposed transaction until the CCPC has made its determination in this case.

Should the proposed purchase receive clearance from the CCPC, it must then be notified to me as Minister. It would not be appropriate for me, therefore, to comment on the case until that process and my Department's initial assessment is completed.

I can, however, describe in general terms how the Media Mergers regime functions.

Upon receipt of notification from the Parties, a phase 1examination 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.

This examination process concentrates on a number of important criteria or measures, including diversity of ownership in the relevant media sector and in the wider media market, editorial management, diversity of content, and the financial standings of the parties to the proposed merger.

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 2, examination of the proposed merger.

If, following the phase 1 examination, I opt to send a case to the BAI then the BAI will, following its examination of the proposed merger, provide me with a report detailing its 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.

In accordance with the Guidelines on Media Mergers, my Department facilitates pre-notification meetings with the parties to a proposed media merger. The purpose of such meetings is to answer questions the parties may have about the media mergers process and the notification form. A pre-notification meeting was held with the legal representatives of INM and Celtic Media on 22 September 2016.