The editor of news website The Ditch has defended how they run the website, stating it is an independent platform that does not pay anyone to promote their content and has no links to Russia.
Eoghan McNeill added that Web Summit funding of the website over the next five years will amount to around €1 million.
Speaking on RTÉ's This Week, he said despite being partially financed by Web Summit, its CEO Paddy Cosgrave does not have editorial input and they are free to write about what they want.
Mr McNeill stated he is "not anti-government or anti-Micheál Martin", but described his "frustration" around comments made by the Tánaiste about The Ditch in the Dáil.
"A lot of the chatter has been about what Micheál Martin said about us in the Dáil," Mr McNeill said.
"I think a lot of what he has said, I have called it a heady mix of ignorance and arrogance, talking about things like hashtags which we don't use, talking about paid ads which we have never paid for.
"For me, he called into question the reason why there was so much interest in that story. It wasn't something that we orchestrated. It was something that our readers decided was in the public interest and to suggest otherwise is a denigration of them."
He said Mr Martin abused Dáil privilege to make a "slanderous attack" on him and his colleague Roman.
"And, which I want to be very clear on, he hasn't repeated. Well he has doubled down on his remarks on us, however he has left out all of that. And I would like to say I do believe in a free press...and I would love for him to just go and say stand over it."
Mr McNeill rejected Mr Martin's comments that reporting by The Ditch is leading to a toxic atmosphere online in politics.
"We actually don't report drama, we aren't soap opera writers. We report on matters of material importance. For Martin to say we are increasing toxicity, I think it speaks more to his discomfort with what we have published."
He said they only promote stories by publishing them on the website and on Twitter.
He said the website is financed by Web Summit, reader subscriptions and also voluntary donations as he acknowledged the importance of people knowing who funds organisations.
In his view, it can be the case that start up media organisations are "sometimes held to a higher standard".
"There is a tendency for people to become media theorists when they are considering places like The Ditch. I would be a big believer in increasing the general media literacy," he said.
Responding to Mr Martin's comments that Paddy Cosgrave's objective is to take down the Government, he said he does not think that is his priority as he described Mr Cosgrave always being focused on "transparency and accountability".
He said he shares Mr Cosgrave's view that there should be a change of Government, but he said that "it doesn't motivate what we do or don't publish though at the same time.
He also said they share "similar views on this State, how power operates."
"A large part of what informs our views is seeing where power lies. We do believe landholdings and what properties people own is a real signifier of where power lies," Mr McNeill said.
"If you look at our bigger hits, stories that led to the resignation of Paul Hyde, stories that led to the resignation of Robert Troy and Damien English, they all focused around property. So that's what would influence our reporting more than anything," he added.
He said they have also written about Sinn Féin regarding property, but that landholdings and property deals are not as much as a factor as they are with Government parties.
However, he added they are always "more than willing" to cover those kind of stories when they originate with different parties.
He admitted he is "very critical" of Mr Martin and said he stood over an article where he criticised people who highlight Mr Martin's decency.
Mr McNeill said he has biases but they do not influence the news stories they publish.
"We are always very clear about separating news and comment," he said.
He said most media outlets "want to influence politics" in some way.
"All established media have editorial lines on different parties, different issues. We are no different to established press in that regard," Mr McNeill said.
The website team is not anti-Government, he said, but very open about being a left-leaning news organisation.
Mr McNeill also said Chay Bowes has no involvement after resigning his directorship over a year ago and relinquished his shareholding.
He said they all felt it was better he left to pursue other projects and they did not endorse his views on the war in Ukraine.
He highlighted how he does not agree with Mr Bowes views on this topic.
"You can see what we think about the war in Ukraine from what we have published."
Mr McNeill said The Ditch has covered Mr Martin several times in news stories and have asked him for comment.
"Micheál Martin has had the chance at every step of the way to respond to any of the stories about him and he has chosen not to do so."
Regarding the article written about Niall Collins, he said Mr Martin will not make a "straightforward allegation" against The Ditch about this, but instead giving his impressions on it.
In a statement on Twitter yesterday, Mr Cosgrave said that he finds it "worrying that a senior political leader would try to deflect from the issue being raised, by casting aspersions on the integrity of the source, just because the Tánaiste doesn't like a former patron's association with the outlet".
He added that the Web Summit is a "supporter of all free press and has donated to numerous other independent media outlets in the past.
Mr Bowes also released a statement describing the Tánaiste's remarks as baseless conspiracy theories.
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Press Ombudsman says members open to 'being scrutinised'
Meanwhile, Press Ombudsman Susan McKay said the Press Council member organisations commit to the highest ethical standards and anyone, including the Tánaiste, who is offended by an article can use the Council to make a complaint.
Her comments come after Mr Martin's statements about The Ditch. Ms McKay said this type of complaint could be investigated by her office.
"It certainly is open to the Tánaiste and anybody who is offended by an article in any of our publications to use the Press Ombudsman to make a complaint."
She said it is a "clean operation" as it is independent of the Government and media.
Ms McKay said The Ditch is a relatively new member of the Press Council and it operates in good faith with members and if they have signed up to this, they must be open to "being scrutinised".
She said the Press Council is open to services being used to investigate any complaints about breaches in the codes of principles.
"Certainly I would invite anybody who wants my office to look at a complaint about The Ditch to do so. I think that is the appropriate forum ... And of course if they have allegations to make."
She said in Ireland there is "a great deal of opinion" expressed in all Irish media.
She added that the standards the Press Council upholds would preclude somebody using what is supposed to be a media outlet simply as a political campaigning tool by individuals.
