Media Regulation Bill 2026: Second Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-11
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Maria McCormack (SF), Labour Panel

Sinn Féin will not be opposing this legislation, as it addresses many of the issues we have raised over the years in relation to media ownership and independence. Almost a decade ago, current Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan commissioned the report on the concentration of media ownership in Ireland that highlighted Irish media ownership as being at high risk due to the influence of figures like Denis O'Brien. That report found that Ireland had one of the most concentrated media markets of any democracy and it stated that it was imperative that urgent action be taken, and seen to be taken, to reassure journalists, media organisations and the wider public. The top four print groups - Independent News and Media, now Mediahuis, The Irish Times Group, Reach plc and News Corp - were found to have collective control of 91% of the print media audience. The radio sector was flagged as having a high concentration of ownership, with television then noted as having a medium-high concentration of ownership, and online news noted as having a concentrated ownership.
There has been very little done by the Government since that time, and I welcome the fact that this step is finally being taken and that Coimisiún na Meán is being given powers in this area. This is welcome news.
It was noted at the time the report was published that having such a high concentration of media ownership in the Irish market threatened media news variety and undermined the media's ability to be a public watchdog to hold money and power to account, which is important. That it is why it is important that we move this Bill along quickly and that we also possibly look to strengthen it in places it may be lacking, such as breaking up existing media concentration. There should be an assessment of current media companies in terms of what may be considered as an existing monopoly, and we should examine how Coimisiún na Meán will deal with that.
With this legislation properly put into effect, we should hopefully prevent a Rupert Murdoch-type media dominance in this State, which unfortunately looks to be replicated again in the United States with the Ellisons looking set to gain control over CBS and CNN, and with them a huge chunk of the American news market. Control of the media by a smaller number of powerful media owners is highly dangerous for democracy and harmful for society as a whole.
We are already living in an era where trust in traditional media is alarmingly low and the State should be taking actions to counteract that. For that reason, the Bill's focus on audience measurement systems with a view to improving transparency and reliability is also welcome and worth scrutinising a bit more on Committee Stage. The requirement for Coimisiún na Meán to co-operate and encourage the adoption of codes of conduct by industry to promote transparency around audience measurement systems may not have the powers that are required to ensure accuracy and transparency.
I look forward to future debate on this legislation and having the opportunity to make constructive amendments. I thank the Minister of State for bringing this before the House.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-11/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:03+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-11