Media merger legislation pending

LEGISLATION COVERING media mergers would be introduced later this year, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment Mary Coughlan told the Dáil.

She said the legislation would also reform aspects of competition law and implement the merger of the National Consumer Agency and the Competition Authority.

She said that her predecessor, Micheál Martin, had initiated a review last year of the legislative provisions applying to media mergers. “This was aimed at examining the criteria and arrangements for considering and assessing how a proposed merger might affect the diversity of views and the concentration of ownership within and across media businesses,’’ she added.

“The media merger advisory group was established to assist in this review, which was undertaken as part of my department’s wider review of the operation and implementation of the Competition Act 2002.’’ She added that her department was currently considering the group’s report.

Labour spokesman Willie Penrose said the definition of “media business’’ needed to be amended to include the publication of newspapers and periodicals, and the broadcast of certain audiovisual material over the internet because that was where much was happening. Mr Penrose said more and more newspapers and television and radio stations were becoming concentrated in the hands of the few. The Minister’s job was to protect the public interest.

He asked if Ms Coughlan considered that media ownership was concentrated in too few hands.

“I should not care to answer that question,’’ she replied.

Mr Penrose said: “Everyone knows that it is. Certainly if one is on the left of the spectrum, it is concentrated in too few hands.’’