At a meeting of the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment last night, members had a hot and heavy debate following a presentation by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, on the proposed merger of Independent News and Media and Celtic Media. While I am aware that this issue has been raised previously, there must be proper public scrutiny of what is taking place. The National Union of Journalists has given me a document which features a map of Ireland in terms of media ownership should the proposed merger take place. It is not an accident that the map is coloured in blue. It shows that, in terms of media ownership, the country will be almost entirely owned by Denis O'Brien and his consortium, Independent News and Media, if the merger goes ahead.

There is extreme concern about plurality in the media in the event that the merger proceeds and the joint committee, of which I am a member, will examine the issue. We have been given an extraordinarily tight timeframe in which to make a submission to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, which is conducting a phase two investigation of the proposed merger. This is the first time the Competition Act, as amended by the previous Government under the watch of the then Minister, Mr. Alex White, will be put to the test. At the time, we were told the new legislation would protect media diversity.

The committee has approximately 12 days to make a submission to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. I had to fight hard in the committee to secure an agreement that we would attempt to have public scrutiny of the proposed merger and seek to quiz representatives of Independent News and Media, Celtic Media and the National Union of Journalists, as well as academics, about what the merger would mean for the plurality of media and the future of media in this country. We have an extraordinarily short period to complete this process.

The joint committee will send an invitation to Denis O'Brien's news and media company to see if it will appear at the hearing. It may not be able to do so but some people are not able to pay their taxes here. It can be difficult for an exile living abroad to get permission from his advisers to make an appearance at such a committee within such a tight timeframe and it may not be possible. The Taoiseach and his entire Cabinet should be very concerned about this. Once upon a time - in the 1940s - the Skibbereen Eagle declared that it would keep an eye on the Kremlin. If the proposed merger proceeds, we will not have a single Skibbereen Eagle left and there will be no one left to keep an eye on anyone else.

Does the Deputy have a question?

Is the Taoiseach concerned about the possible merger? Should there not be a forum for public scrutiny of this proposal?

The committee is perfectly entitled, Deputy Collins, to engage about the application in question, which I understand the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is investigating. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, clearly has a view on this matter, as does the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment. While the timescale may be tight, members of the committee are fully entitled to engage with and interact publicly on this proposition with the bodies to which the Deputy referred and anybody else. However, it should be clearly understood that there is a process here and that this process is under way. Submissions to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland must be made in the next short period and the BAI will make its view known on these submissions. The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment will have to oversee what emerges from that over a certain period. I do not want to pre-empt the recommendations, views or analysis of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland arising from the committee's discussions and the submissions it receives in the next ten days or so.

The reason I raise this matter is that the proposed merger is not only the concern of the committee of which I and other Deputies are members. I note the committee is weighted heavily with Fine Gael Senators and Deputies but that is just the way it is. The Taoiseach should also be concerned because this is a national concern. The joint committee is up against a ticking clock because the relevant legislation provides that submissions must be made by a certain date. In this case, I understand the deadline is either 12 or 14 February. The proposed merger is a matter of national concern on many levels, in particular in respect of the plurality of media.

The question of how Independent News and Media is dealt with by the State is also extraordinarily interesting. I referred to the difficulty some people have with paying their taxes in this country. At the same time, €100 million of INM's debt was written off by Allied Irish Banks. We then had the extraordinary ill treatment of workers' pensions by Denis O'Brien and Independent News and Media. This issue needs public scrutiny as otherwise we will hurtle towards a dictatorship in the media. The Taoiseach should not pretend this will be an even-handed discrepancy or that the media depends on good journalism. That is not the case because editorial control is everything. This is an issue of national interest and the Taoiseach should be concerned about it.

I am concerned. Once a proposed media merger receives clearance from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission on competition grounds, it has to be notified to the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment to assess the proposed transaction on media plurality grounds. Upon receipt of notification from the parties, what is called a phase one examination of the merger is carried out by the Department. While this is focused on competition and market issues, the examination carried out by the Department is focused on media plurality, the point raised by the Deputy. This examination is guided by the relevant criteria set out in Part 3A of the Competition Act 2002, as amended by the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014. Statutory guidelines are in place on media mergers.

If, following the phase one examination, the Minister opts to send the case to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, the authority will, following its examination of the proposed merger, provide him with a report detailing its recommendations on the matter. A full phase two assessment, Deputy Collins, is a much more detailed process over 80 working days or 16 weeks instead of the 30 working days or six weeks provided for a phase one examination.

Why does the Taoiseach repeatedly refer to me as Deputy Collins?

There are significant differences between the two assessments. One of these is that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland must invite submissions from the public on the proposed transaction and must directly invite a submission from the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Action and Environment, which is the work the committee is doing. It is also possible for the Minister to establish an advisory panel to provide an opinion to the BAI on the application of the relevant criteria to the media merger application in question. This is a matter of concern and it is receiving-----

That was not a reply to my question.