Seanad Report: It would be naive of the media not to recognise that significant development of the law of privacy was imminent one way or another, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr McDowell, said.
We were likely to see significant development of privacy remedies in the aftermath of the European Convention on Human Rights Act which would come into effect from next month.
Speaking in a debate on defamation, the Minister said there was a need to be robust with the media, who were better at giving it than taking it. They ordered ink by the barrel load, and anyone who took them on did so at their peril.
Saying he did not want to be seen as media-bashing, he said he was not foot-dragging on the amending of legislation in this area. The consultative process that had been under way for the last number of months had been very useful in terms of flushing out people and requiring them to stand up their views.
Mr McDowell said it seemed to him that the particular model examined by the Legal Advisory Group was by no means the only, or, for that matter, the most obvious model for a statutory press council.
"I could envisage a body chaired by a judge, and composed of nominees of a variety of groups to reflect the different interests involved. Such a body could reflect the interests of the public, the media owners and journalists."
He said: "When I brought the report of the advisory group to Government in June 2003, I emphasised, and I emphasise again to senators today, that the group's report was not a report by me to Government or a report of the Government. No decisions in respect of the substance of the contents of the report have yet been made.
"I emphasise that because yesterday I noted that the first few lines of an editorial in The Irish Times announced that I was retreating from my proposals to have a Government-appointed press council.
"I do not know how many times I have to say that that was never my proposal, is not my proposal and, in all probability, will not be my proposal. What the Government agreed was to have a consultation period, before any action might be taken on foot of the recommendations, which will run until the end of next January."
Mr Ulick Burke (FG) noted the Minister had stated that in democracy the government was accountable. He doubted the Minister's sincerity about his stated approach to defamation law as it affected the media in view of the way the Minister had emasculated rights under Freedom of Information legislation.
Mr Fergal Quinn said for as long as they continued to drag their feet on this issue they deepened people's cynicism about their sincerity in wishing to make public life more transparent.
"What do the ordinary people of Ireland think when they consider our failure to grasp the nettle of better libel laws? They see it as a matter of politicians looking after their own interests first."