Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 December 2017
185. Deputy Michael McGrath asked the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if newspaper and print media are covered in his brief; if not, the Minister responsible for the area; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52366/17]
Amharc ar fhreagraI have no specific role in relation to the print media. The Press Council of Ireland and the Office of the Press Ombudsman were established by industry to safeguard and promote professional and ethical standards in Irish newspapers and magazines. These bodies have been formally recognised under s. 44 of the Defamation Act 2009, which falls under the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister for Justice and Equality.
The only role that I have as Minister that includes print media is the administration of the media mergers regime, which 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.
