Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein)
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513. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the progress that has been made to establish a commission on the future of the media; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [50036/17]

Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent)
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The Media Mergers process was created as a result of amendments made to the Competition Act 2002 by the Competition & Consumer Protection Act 2014. All media mergers must be notified to me as Minister and I must make a determination whether or not the proposed media merger may proceed based on an assessment of its impact on the plurality of media in the State.

The examinations of all previous proposed media mergers conducted by my Department are available on my Department's website, as are a number of supplementary materials and a FAQ page concerning the media mergers process.

The amendments to the Competition Act also require the BAI to prepare a report every three years which describes the ownership and control arrangements for media businesses in the State; describes changes to ownership and control arrangements over the previous three years, and analyses the effect of those changes on the plurality of media in the State.

The first such report "Report on Ownership and Control of Media Businesses in Ireland 2012-2014" is also available on my Department's website. Preparatory work on the second such report by the BAI for the period 2015-2017 will commence in the new year.

Given the robust oversight in place, I have no plans to establish a commission on the future of the media.