THE Minister for Enterprise and Employment, Mr Bruton, has been advised by Government programme managers to include legislation on the concentration of media ownership in his proposed Newspaper Bill, which is currently being prepared.
The Bill will bring together four of the 16 recommendations contained in the report of the Commission on the Newspaper Industry, published last June, specifically those relating to below-cost selling, merger control, ownership and regulation of ownership.
The Cabinet decided in November to act on the recommendations, with the exception of three that are the subject of review or amending legislation.
The Minister for Justice will amend the Gaming and Lotteries Acts so they become an effective deterrent against breaches by newspapers, while the Working Group on the Courts Commission, chaired by Mrs Justice Denham, is to study the recommendation that journalists have access to court documents that have become part of a public hearing.
The Minister for Law Reform, Mr Taylor, has also been instructed by the Cabinet to review the defamation laws and report to Cabinet.
The Newspaper Bill is to be considered by Cabinet at the end of this month. It will include new conditions that newspaper companies must fulfil before there can be a change of ownership. It will include four of the five recommendations, but not the recommendation that says the Minister will assess the implications of any change of ownership in terms of the strength and competitiveness of the indigenous industry in relation to UK titles. The Minister's advice is that this clause would discriminate against British titles and would be contrary to EU competition legislation.
The effect of the Bill will be to make it harder to take over a newspaper publishing company, with the Minister empowered to employ a greater number of factors in arriving at a decision than would be the case with any other type of company.
Current merger legislation assumes one company cannot control another unless it has 25 per cent or more of the shareholding. It is understood that the Minister believes this has not been the case with newspapers.
However, it is also conceded that defining control would be difficult. The new legislation will simply contain the statement that the Minister will regulate not only the acquisition of shares but also the "acquisition of control over newspapers by any other means" and let the courts decide what that might mean in any given circumstance.
While Mr Bruton is to introduce legislation outlawing below-cost selling, as recommended by the commission, it is known that his officials are having major problems defining what this means and to which newspapers it might apply. It is assumed it would have to apply across the board, and could not apply to British newspapers only, even though that was the thrust of the commission's recommendation.
The proposed legislation will also include regulations controlling the concentration of media ownership in Ireland. This, however, has not yet received detailed attention from officials, although the group of programme managers who reported on the newspaper commission report are believed to have strongly recommended legislation in this area.
The Newspaper Bill will mean major changes in the newspaper marketplace, not all of which would be welcomed by all sections of the Irish media. Its effect will be felt right through the industry, including the British press in Ireland.
It is also understood that the Newspaper Bill is in the legislative "fast track", according to one source, and the Government is very keen that it become law before an election.
Yesterday Mr Bruton told the deputy leader of Fianna Fail, Ms Mary O'Rourke, that he is meeting representatives of the newspaper industry to discuss below- cost selling. It is understood he wishes to discuss some of the recommendations that do not need legislation, such as training and industrial relations.
It is also understood that he will raise the issue of the appointment by the newspaper industry of an independent Ombudsman to investigate complaints of breaches of press standards.
The Government has already taken a decision to amend legislation in order that such an office would have immunity from claims for defamation in respect of matters arising from the exercise of that office.