Media Merger Guidelines

The Guidelines were designed to provide interested parties with insight on how the media mergers regulatory process works.

This includes information on the following:

• information about who is required to apply
• the notification process
• an explanation of how media mergers will be examined
• information about the relevant criteria that inform the Minister’s decision-making

The Guidelines were originally introduced in 2015 following a public consultation process in accordance with Section 28L of the Competition Act 2002 (as amended by the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014).

The Guidelines are accompanied by an associated notification form.

In April 2024, the Guidelines were amended to reflect the introduction of a simplified notification procedure for certain media mergers.

Section 3.4 of the revised Guidelines provides an overview of the criteria which must be met for a media merger to be assessed under the Simplified Procedure, and the flexibilities that will be granted to eligible mergers or transactions.

In amending the Guidelines, a number of other technical changes were made – including to reflect changes to the Department’s name, and the establishment of Coimisiún na Meán to replace the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

The Guidelines were amended following a public consultation, in line with Section 28L of the Act.

The content of the submissions received was very mixed, reflecting the broad range of views considered by the department.