I move amendment No. 66: In page 35, to delete lines 15 and 16 and substitute the following: "(3) When preparing a strategy statement, the Commission shall consult with— (a) the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, (b) the Data Protection Commission, (c) the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, (d) Screen Ireland, and (e) such other persons or bodies, the Commission considers appropriate.".

I move amendment No. 67: In page 35, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: "(4A) When preparing a strategy statement, the Commission shall consult with the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media.".

I move amendment No. 68: In page 35, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: "(4A) A record of such consultations described in subsection (4) shall be kept and deposited with the Minister and laid before both Houses the Oireachtas.".

I move amendment No. 69: In page 35, to delete lines 38 and 39 and substitute the following: "work programme, have regard to the need to ensure the most sustainable and efficient use of its resources, while ensuring that such resources are directed towards maximum social and cultural benefit to the public.".

I move amendment No. 70: In page 36, line 16, after "any" to insert "appropriate". I propose to withdraw this amendment, but I may return to the issue on Report Stage. May I speak to the other amendment in the group?

I indicated that that is my intention, but I want to speak to amendment No. 71.

I have queried the procedure where I propose to withdraw amendment No. 70. Amendment No. 71 provides that where there are consultations, a record would be kept and that such record would include the rationale by which the commission deemed the person to be appropriate to consult with. Here, again, I have used the language that such record should be deposited with the Minister and laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. I would appreciate it if in his reply the Minister of State would focus not on the piece that …

I would like clarification. A similar answer was given in terms of the earlier piece when the focus was laid on the phrase "laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas". I have made it clear that that is not the core point. Does the Minister of State agree that records in regard to with whom the commission consults should be kept? I am speaking about those with whom the commission consults in the general sense and also specifically with whom it is consulting in regard to the advice it may give in regard to legislation…

The Minister of State can choose to not answer that question. This is the Committee Stage debate. When we come to the section I will speak to it and ask the Minister of State the same question and, perhaps, he might answer it. He is currently answering in respect of the records being laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. He is not answering in terms of the other issue. In this Committee Stage debate we are trying to determine how we are able to move forward together to Report Stage. As we come to it, I will spe…

He has spoken to the amendments. We can come back to the issue when we come to the section.

We will come to the section presently.

I move amendment No. 71: In page 36, between lines 18 and 19, to insert the following: “(4A) A record of any consultations conducted under subsection (4) shall be kept and such a record will include the rationale by which the Commission deemed the person to be appropriate to consult with, and such records shall be deposited with the Minister and laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas.”. I reserve the right to reintroduce this amendment or a similar amendment on Report Stage.

I move amendment No. 72: In page 37, line 14, after “rules” to insert the following: “and shall identify specific barriers to accessing audiovisual media services for people with disabilities along with possible mitigation measures”. This deals with the annual report which addresses the issue of the accessibility of audiovisual media services to persons with a disability. We had this discussion in our previous debate on the Bill. The question was not simply about accessibility but also identifying specific barriers…

My amendment seeks to ensure that we do not end up having very general figures in terms of accessibility but that the report looks to address specific barriers and how they might be mitigated. Rather than having a very generic progress report, it should actually be a problem-solving report. I welcome the existence of the annual report within the legislation. I think it is a constructive and positive measure. My amendment was an attempt to strengthen it. I will not press my amendment further at this point but I ask …

Although I sympathise with certain elements because I regret that we have such an adversarial frame in our debates, often with very strong privileging of heat over light in political programming, in respect of which balance is important, I am concerned about the amendment. I do not know whether the weighting of political parties will be the way we move towards more balanced and nuanced coverage of political issues. It seems that we could just move into a permanent election dynamic. We see this sometimes in the Dáil…

This group of amendments relates to the key endeavour we are undertaking. It is constructive and part of recognising that debates on issues extend beyond political and electoral debate. That was the context for and what we were trying to do with our amendment. We will move it and bring it back on Report Stage. The Minister said that she will engage with the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan, on this aspect and that we could examine the issue. To clarify, in my intervention I was speaking about concerns regarding ame…

I move amendment No. 35: In page 22, between lines 6 and 7, to insert the following: “(2A) One member of the Commission, who shall not be the chairperson, shall be known as an Online Safety Commissioner.”. We discussed this earlier. This relates to the core premise, the online safety commissioner. When articles appear in newspapers, they only cover five sentences from this Bill. The only thing they refer to is an online safety commissioner. That is one of the key expectations, hopes and promises that has been made …

It is also important to mention that the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Children's Rights Alliance and its many member organisations have been really clear on the importance of this. Amendment No. 41 proposed by Senators Malcolm Byrne and Cassells and supported by Senator Carrigy is actually worded really well and is possibly better than our own amendment. If the Government was minded to accept that amendment, we would be happy to withdraw ours and lend our support to that amendment.

I am happy to withdraw our amendments in that context. I thank the Minister for indicating her intentions. We can get into the detail later but it is so important that in this House a clear signal is sent that this is going to be a clear responsibility and function. A point that was very well made by Senator Malcolm Byrne, which I would urge the Minister to bear in mind when crafting her own amendment, is that while there should be a clearly designated role, that should not dilute the wider responsibility of the co…

I move amendment No. 36: In page 22, line 7, after “chairperson” to insert “, the Online Safety Commissioner”.