An independent press council protected by law will be proposed by the Minister for Justice in his forthcoming legislation reforming the defamation law. This would have broadly similar status as that enjoyed by An Taisce, he said. "The same kind of recognition could be put in place without me creating it [the press council]."
Mr McDowell was speaking at the launch of a pamphlet, "Rethinking Freedom of the Press", by Baroness Onora O'Neill.
The pamphlet is based on a lecture she gave to the Royal Irish Academy last December, which published it yesterday.
Mr McDowell said that he shared many of the views expressed by Baroness O'Neill in her pamphlet. "I believe that you are still in favour, if only just, and only through rigorous adherence to standards of self-regulation of the press," he told her.
"This mirrors my own views. However, we might both recognise that, if the press, as once famously remarked, are not drinking at the last chance saloon, then they can see the neon sign flashing up ahead."
He said there was a need for a form of regulation which was effective and in which the public could have confidence.
He had initiated a public consultation process on the proposed new legislation, and had met the Press Industry Steering Committee to discuss its proposals for a press ombudsman and a press council, he said.
"I told them of my own preference for an independent press council, not Government appointed, but broadly representative of civic society, not a media 'old boys' club, but a body that could gain the confidence of the general public as being independent, fair-minded and effective.
"I hope to make provision to recognise and confer certain statutory protections and privileges on a properly constituted press council," he said.
He added that not everyone might share this view, and should it prove impossible to bring about a proper, independent press council it would be necessary to revise thinking on the matter.
"We are looking for standards, incentives and teeth to make such an approach work."
Baroness O'Neill said that freedom of expression was not necessarily the same as freedom of the press. "Why should powerful media institutions have unfettered freedom of expression?" she asked.
She said that media self-regulation would not work if it was limited to a press complaints commission. The press needed to impose standards on itself.
Such standards should include journalists and editors publicly declaring their interests, stepping down where there was a conflict of interest, putting an end to "chequebook journalism", publishing all offers of payment for stories, and developing an independent, professionally-assisted right of reply. The media should lobby as hard for the protection of privacy, also a human right, as it had for freedom of information.