THE GOVERNMENT has been told by an advisory group that it may have to set out statutory definitions of media ownership if it introduces guidelines to place limits on cross-media ownership.
The group, chaired by Paul Sreenan SC, was set up in March to examine the legislation on media mergers and advise whether the existing competition law sufficiently covers the need to maintain diversity of opinion.
Its work could have significant implications for the ambitions of billionaire businessman Denis O'Brien, whose national and local radio licences are under review by broadcasting regulators in light of his 25 per cent stake in newspaper company Independent News Media.
In a lengthy report submitted yesterday to Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan, the advisory group is understood to have pointed out that no definitions are set out in statute on the ownership of media organisations.
The group is also believed to have said that the Government should introduce guidelines to assist companies involved in media mergers in knowing where the law stands on cross-media ownership. The extent to which, if at all, the law calls for any specific limitations on cross-media ownership is unclear.
While Cabinet will examine the report in the coming weeks, it is believed the debate within Government on these issues has not yet begun in earnest.
The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI), which regulates independent broadcasters, already has the power to block media mergers on the basis of cross-media ownership. It is obliged by law to guard against any person having "control of, or substantial interests in, an undue amount of the communications media".
But the Competition Authority, which decides on media mergers within and outside the broadcasting sector, has told the Government it does not have "the expertise" to decide on the need to maintain plurality of ownership in the media.
While the authority measures the business impact of a transaction, it told the Government that it encountered difficulties when examining Mr O'Brien's takeover of Today FM, Dublin station FM 104 and Donegal station Highland last year.
INM, controlled by Mr O'Brien's rival Sir Anthony O'Reilly, has sought changes to the Competition Act that would prevent any single person or firm controlling large parts of the print and broadcast media.
However, Ms Coughlan's predecessor, Micheál Martin, insisted the Sreenan review was prompted by concerns expressed by the Competition Authority and not INM.
The parameters of the BCI review of Mr O'Brien's licences, which started last month, have never been made public.
