Legislation to reform the defamation laws should be ready next year. However, the Tanaiste yesterday said she hoped the newspaper industry would not wait until then to establish a press council or ombudsman.
Speaking during Enterprise, Trade and Employment questions, Ms Harney said she had "no plans, nor do I have any functions or responsibilities, to introduce a statutory system for dealing with complaints against newspapers".
She supported the Newspaper Industry Commission's recommendation for the establishment of an ombudsman to be funded by the industry. It was, however, "for the newspaper industry to regulate itself in this regard".
She was replying to Mr Jim O'Keeffe (FG, Cork South West) about the need to establish a press council to investigate complaints against the media. He asked if the Minister agreed that "the virus of the English tabloid has to some extent infected us in Ireland".
Ms Harney said: "There have been some examples of matters appearing in publications that I prefer not to see, quite honestly. I think persons' private lives are entirely their own affair, notwithstanding the fact that they may be public persons.
"I hope that everybody recognises that we all have to carry out our jobs in a fair and responsible way and not interfere with people's privacy and that of their families."
The Tanaiste stressed that an ombudsman or press council should be done on a voluntary basis.
"I'm a strong believer in self-regulation. In the commission on newspapers report there was a suggestion that this would be done on the basis of changes to the defamation laws. The Bill to reform defamation laws is at a very advanced stage and will come to Government next year."
She hoped the newspaper industry would follow the example of other sectors, such as the insurance business.
"I think it will have a very important and useful role to play in resolving the complaints that aren't satisfactorily resolved otherwise and it would perhaps avoid unnecessary litigation."
Many matters ended up in litigation which could be avoided "if people felt there was a fair way of making a complaint and of having it resolved, and perhaps the complainant having something similar to the headlines on the original story, which is always a bone of contention".
Ms Harney added: "Everybody in public life will have reason to have grievances with the media from time to time. At times we are super-sensitive, but sometimes there may be a justifiable reason for our concern.
"An ombudsman or press council would go a long way to resolve some of the difficulties that arise for citizens generally. That would be a very good development, and I urge the industry to seriously consider it."
Mr David Stanton (FG, Cork East) asked how press standards were currently being monitored and where someone could go with a complaint.
The Minister said there were letters to the editor, and some papers had a corrections column, but at the end of the day if that failed litigation was the fall-back. A press council or ombudsman would have a useful role to play in satisfying the needs of the consumers of the media.
