The media watchdog Coimisiún na Meán, as well as broadcaster Ivan Yates and a number of political public relations specialists, have been invited to an Oireachtas committee meeting to discuss transparency issues in the sector.
Labour TD and Oireachtas Media Committee chair Alan Kelly confirmed the decision, saying the committee has also invited political and PR advisers Mandy Johnston, Terry Prone and Lucinda Creighton to appear.
The meeting is planned to take place within two weeks, with Coimisiún na Meán already confirming it will attend.
Speaking to RTÉ News this afternoon, Deputy Kelly said he wanted to be "clear" that the media watchdog needs to make changes to transparency levels for the area so that the general public knows if an individual commenting on politics is also providing work for any political party.
However, he also stressed that the meeting is not intended to be adversarial, saying he understands that people providing such services need to have worked in both media and politics, and that "some members of the committee" may have also previously availed of such services.
The decision to request the meeting comes after it emerged former Fine Gael minister and broadcaster Mr Yates advised Fianna Fáil's presidential candidate Jim Gavin on media appearances.
Mr Yates has also provided similar advice to a number of Fianna Fáil ministers, but did not reveal this information at the time, leading to debate over whether this should have been known by the public watching or listening to Mr Yates's contributions to on-air political discussions.
Mandy Johnston was a government adviser during the Fianna Fáil-led 2002-2007 and 2007-2011 governments and is now a broadcaster, columnist and media consultant.
Terry Prone is a well-known media PR consultant, while Lucinda Creighton was a Fine Gael minister in the 2011-2016 government, a period which also saw her leave and establish the Renua party, before setting up a business consultancy firm.
RTÉ, Newstalk and Virgin Media have not been invited to the committee hearing.
While Coimisiún na Meán is obliged to attend an Oireachtas committee meeting if requested to do so as it is funded by the taxpayer, the same is not the case for the other invited attendees as they are private citizens.
