Media Regulation Bill 2026: Second Stage Dail Éireann — 2026-03-19 ============================================================ Marian Harkin (IND), Sligo-Leitrim I thank Members for their valuable and considered contributions and their constructive approach to the Bill. As a general point, I want to emphasise that the core aim of this Bill is to implement EMFA, which is a landmark part of EU legislation that is designed to protect media freedom. The European Commission proposed the European Media Freedom Act as a response to worrying trends in relation to media freedom in certain European countries. It was not developed specifically with the Irish context in mind. However, the principles on which the regulation is based, namely respect for editorial independence and freedom of expression are clearly enshrined in Irish law. In providing for its full and effective implementation, we have an opportunity to introduce another layer of protection for the free and pluralistic media system that we already have. In the current climate, it is clear that a diverse and independent media is essential for healthy democratic debate. We must ensure that the protections we have in place for media freedom and plurality are further strengthened and modernised. This is important legislation and I hope we can progress it as quickly as possible. I have a general comment to make before I go to what some of our colleagues have proposed. It is that not all aspects of EMFA are being dealt with in this Bill. We also have the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill and a number of other items of legislation that are being progressed by the Department of justice that will progress other aspects. A number of significant issues were raised. I will seek to address them. I welcome the broad support for this legislation. People have issues with the Bill. Perhaps one or two may not support it, but there was certainly very broad support for it. Some of the specifics that were raised by Deputies Joanna Byrne and Ó Murchú include the already high concentration of ownership in the media sector. It is important to say that Coimisiún na Meán's power to prevent a media merger only falls to be exercised in the event that a merger takes place. This Bill does not provide for an ongoing regulatory function in respect of media ownership. The Minister does not believe that this would be appropriate. It is also not required under EMFA. While the Irish market is relatively concentrated, this is always going to be the case given the small number of media markets. Issues were also raised about why there are no quantitative limits on media ownership. This regulation does not require the introduction of what are termed bright-line limits on media ownership. In this context, bright-line limits mean putting a figure into legislation setting out the maximum amount of market share a single entity could hold in any given market. While the Minister believes that in principle there could be a reasonable argument for such an approach, it is overly rigid and it could face numerous difficulties in practice. For these reasons, it is not proposed to set legislative limits on ownership for the media market. It is preferable to continue to assess media mergers on a case-by-case basis and, crucially, on the basis of guidelines in this area to be developed by Coimisiún na Meán. Deputies Robert O'Donoghue, Joanna Byrne, Ó Murchú and Malcolm Byrne raised issues around a fair share of advertising being awarded to local independent radio. It is important to say that the purpose of EMFA's provisions on state advertising is to increase transparency as to how such advertising is allocated. It is not intended to support any particular sector over another. The Bill obliges each public body to seek to ensure that its overall expenditure on advertising is distributed to as wide a plurality of media as is practicable. That does not mean that every media provider should receive a portion of funding from all advertising campaigns, but it does mean that public bodies should adhere to their own published criteria when they allocate expenditure. By obliging public bodies to be transparent and to publish data on expenditure, and providing for Coimisiún na Meán to compile an annual report, anomalies or outliers will be identified. There will be an evidence base that will allow for such issues to be addressed. Coimisiún na Meán is tasked with monitoring expenditure on State advertising and producing an annual report based on this information. A number of Deputies, including Deputy Robert O'Donoghue, spoke about the fact that we are members of the new European Board for Media Services. I agree that this issue does not stop at EU borders. Its role is to promote a consistent application of EU media law and this framework, including EMFA, and of course the audiovisual media services directive. He also agreed on the €2 million threshold, which I believe is proportionate. This largely came into being after the public consultation. Deputies Malcolm Byrne and Gogarty told us that Ireland is consistently rated as good by Reporters Without Borders. It is critical to say that this would be the case for any democracy. Local media play a hugely important role. Deputies Michael Collins, Malcolm Byrne and Gogarty all emphasise their importance, for example, in reporting local authority meetings and decisions that are taken there. That plays a hugely constructive role in connecting local decisions to the people impacted by those decisions. My local radio station, Ocean FM, has won a number of awards for its coverage of local and national elections because it brings every listener into the count centre. It is not just about providing data and figures but also conveying the atmosphere, the highs and the lows of an election. The presenters have a great way of making everybody listening feel connected in a tangible and real way to the whole democratic process. I noted the comments by Deputies Boyd Barrett and Coppinger regarding public service media. The European Media Freedom Act introduces a number of safeguards to protect the independence of public service media such as RTÉ. Member states must ensure public service media are independent and that they provide a variety of information to their audiences in an impartial way. The procedures for the appointment and dismissal of the heads of management of public service media providers aim to guarantee their independence. Funding procedures are based on transparent and objective criteria and seek to guarantee that public service media have adequate resources to fulfil their remit and safeguard editorial independence. I agree that some of the issues the Deputies raised are covered by this legislation and some are not. Coimisiún na Meán has existing expertise in relation to media plurality and currently undertakes a similar function in assessing changes of ownership in respect of broadcasting licences, which was an issue raised by the Deputies. Deputy Barry Ward spoke about there sometimes being disproportionate coverage of events that occur in the English-speaking world. He referred to RTÉ in that context and also mentioned advertising. He highlighted the increasing number of advertisements in the Irish language, which helps to rebalance the situation. A number of TDs raised issues in regard to the moving of certain roles from the Minister to an coimisiún. This is seen as depoliticising those issues. Some, including Deputy Gogarty and the Minister, are in favour of this move. Others are against it, including Deputies Coppinger and Michael Collins. My view is that the Bill sets out a reasonable and balanced way forward on this issue. I thank Deputies for their contributions. I look forward to Committee Stage, when there will be an opportunity to tease out and address some of the key issues that have been raised on Second Stage. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-19/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:45+00:00 Sitting date: 2026-03-19