Fine Gael has vowed to radically reform "outdated and unnecessarily restrictive" libel laws if the party is voted back into power in the next General Election.
Speaking at the launch of its libel reform document Press For Change, Fine Gael leader Mr Michael Noonan said his party had always demonstrated a commitment to defend the right to free speech and said he would not apologise for making media law reform a political issue.
Mr Nonnan said a free press was imperative in order to maintain a democratic society. This, he said, had been made extremely apparent since the September 11th attacks on the US.
He said since his election he had promised to be a campaigning leader and now with the publication of his party’s proposals for an overhaul of the libel laws, the right to free speech and free press would both be strengthened.
Mr Noonan said the "culture of secrecy" in Ireland which has led to a series of tribunals had served the country badly over the last forty years. "During that time and up to recent times accountability and Ireland were mutually exclusive words", he said.
But he said some of the tribunals had failed to find fault and were a "downright waste of time".
Mr Noonan said the way to rectify this was to reform libel laws so as to give the media the "necessary rights and underpinning laws that would allow it investigate and expose wrong-doing in our society".
Mr Noonan urged a debate on the issue and said "the role of an open, free and accountable media is too important to be left to backroom civil servants, or learned lawyers".