I am trying to avoid legislative work here but it seems to me that there is a lacuna in our law. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, seems unwilling to take action against Communicorp, which has recently made a decision that certain members of the media, namely Mr. Tom Lyons and Mr. Ian Kehoe from currency.ie will be restricted from taking part in any radio programmes on its stations. It is similar to the decision taken two years ago in response to an article by Fintan O'Toole which saw journalists from The Irish Times banned from the same stations. The recent case is, they say, because of commercial rivalry. My sense, having talked to every grouping in the House today, is that every party is in agreement that this is egregious and has a poor effect on our democracy. We need a free press that is open to debate and allows different voices to be heard. Whether it is for commercial reasons, an editorial view or the fact that a certain owner might not like what is written in a newspaper, to ban journalists from radio stations is not what we want. In order to avoid legislation, I ask the Taoiseach to join the other groupings and leaders in this House in writing a letter to Communicorp asking it to reverse the decision in both cases and to stand up for press freedom. I am keen to hear the Taoiseach's views on that.

I thank Deputy Ryan for raising this matter which we have discussed in the past. My sentiments are the same as his on this matter. I believe in free speech and I believe in a free press. I do not believe anyone should be banned from the airwaves - journalists or citizens - except for very good reasons. Those reasons should be something like incitement to hatred but I do not think that anyone should be banned from the radio, the TV or from any publication solely based on who is his or her employer. I would be happy to join the Deputy in that.