The Communications Minister has admitted that he has not actually read a report on media ownership in Ireland.
Denis Naughten’s admission comes just hours after he answered reporters’ questions on the issue and suggested it was not legally possible to force media owners to sell their outlets.
The report commissioned by Sinn Féin said too much media in Ireland is owned by either RTE or by the businessman Denis O’Brien and suggests they could be legally forced to sell off some outlets.
The report, which was published earlier this week called for a commission of inquiry into RTÉ’s role as the state broadcaster, and referred to the “chilling effect” of our defamation laws.
Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan (pictured) said she was “astonished” by the Minister’s response to the report.
The Dublin MEP described as “breathtaking” the Minister’s claim that constitutional property rights present a barrier to dealing with the matter of concentrated media ownership in this state.
Boylan said she had to question whether the Minister had even read the document given his contention that the report failed to address this issue – and this evening, Mr Naughten admitted he had not.
Boylan said: “If he had read the report in any depth, he would have seen that the issue of Constitutional property rights and retrospective legislation to deal with it is outlined from section 5.3 to 5.5 where the case of Fisher v. Irish Land Commission [1948] is used as the case law example.
“In fact it goes even further, the author’s show how retrospective action could be taken, not just in accordance with the protection of property under Irish Constitutional law, but in accordance with the ECHR and EU Competition Law.”
Mr Naughten said this evening: “Disappointingly, I was not furnished with a copy of the report in advance of its publication, which means I’m not in a position to respond comprehensively to its findings.
“Have I read the report? No I haven’t…My department had to download the report from a news website (to see it).”
Update 6.30pm: In a statement issued this evening, Denis O’Brien said the report made for “interesting reading”.
He asked whether the media was objective when talking and writing about itself and stated the media industry in Ireland is in decline.
“This decline has been ongoing for many years and it threatens an industry that has served this country exceptionally well,” he said.
“I do not believe the Irish media is objective in relation to matters relating to itself. The prime reason is survival. Every media executive and journalist knows that the future of traditional media is bleak. It makes one entity undermining another easier to justify.”
He added: “I am the owner of Communicorp which like RTE, TV3, The Irish Examiner and The Sunday Business Post operates in a very challenging environment.”
The statement concludes: “Maybe instead of commissioning reports Sinn Féin would commit just some of its vast resources and support an ailing industry – become a fully-fledged broadcaster and publisher and create some jobs for a change?”
