Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 2:

To delete all words after "recognises" and substitute the following: "— public service journalism - accurate and impartial reporting in the public interest – is a central pillar of Irish society and democracy;

— confidence in Radio Telefís Éireann (RTÉ) has reached an all-time low as a result of successive scandals, undermining public trust in the institution; and

— the spread of misinformation and disinformation is growing exponentially on social media platforms and having a malign impact on the media ecosystem and damaging our democracy; acknowledges that: — public trust in RTÉ can only be remedied by RTÉ reforming its governance structures, and fully committing to transparency and accountability in relation to the controversies that have beset it;

— forcing RTÉ to rely on the Exchequer for its entire budget creates the risk of political influence being exerted on its reporting and funding shortfalls during periods of economic shock;

— social media platforms have done little to stem the tide of dangerous misinformation and disinformation on their platforms;

— the spread of vile misinformation and disinformation online increases the need for strong public service journalism;

— a 'polluter pays' principle should be applied to those social media companies disseminating poisonous misinformation and disinformation;

— the notion of a 'Television Licence fee' is outdated given the expansion of streaming on laptops, tablets, phones etc.; and

— the collection of the Television Licence fee is not a matter for the Revenue Commissioners, as it is a charge and not a tax; and calls on the Government to: — adopt a three-stranded funding model for public service broadcasting and journalism, consisting of:

— a levy on social media companies;

— a household Public Service Journalism charge, charged at a lower rate than the existing television licence fee; and

— multi-annual Exchequer funding;

— ensure the independence of RTÉ is strictly maintained; and

— support the reform of RTÉ as an institution so that public confidence in the organisation is restored.".

I thank Sinn Féin for bringing this motion forward. We all believe it is important to reflect on what can only be described as a turbulent time for public service broadcasting. With that in mind, I am not sure that either Sinn Féin or Deputy Gould in his introduction have presented the case for why we should support this motion. The past few years have seen an abdication of duty by those in charge of RTÉ, which has led to public confidence in the broadcaster plummeting to new lows. Scandal breeds discontent and I do not blame anyone whose trust has been broken, and who feels betrayed and cheated by a service which was intended to serve but to this point has failed as a public service broadcaster. No shows at the Committee of Public Accounts, the withholding of crucial information under investigation, the hesitant admittance of secret payments, shady deals and more generally the gross misuse of public funding have rightfully led many to be outraged at the prospect of trusting that body with their money in future.

As one of many public servants who regularly engage with RTÉ, we engaged with staff members and to feel the absence of trust in their eyes compounded things. Those hard grafting journalists and administrative staff were betrayed by contracts that were found to be in breach of guidelines on employment status, denying access to sick leave, pensions, maternity leave and more. It is for all of these reasons and more that reflection is overdue and, while overdue, I am not sure it is catered for in the motion Sinn Féin has brought forward tonight. The Social Democrats believes that public service broadcasting has never been more important, as reflected in our amendment to the Government's amendment to this motion. We are living in an age of falsehoods in abundance, and which are hard to find. Within a space where truth itself is so hard to discover we bring forward an amendment that is not based in easy answers. Our amendment has a modicum of difficulty, but we believe it is more authentic to the space. The Social Democrats believes public service broadcasting has never been more important. The rapid rise of misinformation and disinformation on social media is a real threat to our democracy. It is a threat that can be combated by a service that educates the populace with veracity and correctness. The verification journalist Eliot Higgins has stated that, "The ramifications of disinformation spill onto the streets with tangible, often devastating real world consequences." He has been credited as the godfather of online open-source verification and has been writing about the threats we face for more than ten years.

Bad actors attack the reputation of traditional news sources like RTÉ in tandem with their manipulation of false narratives, which combine into a crisis of confidence. Where do we look? Who do we trust? Do we trust those who seek to sue our national broadcaster, or do we seek to believe in a better veracity of what we consider to be public service broadcasting? The void left is the reason we need public service broadcasting now more than ever. The Social Democrats broadly supports progress and reform. Today we are concerned by some of the proposals we have been presented with. First, designating all responsibility for funding RTÉ to the Exchequer clearly presents a real threat to its output. You cannot step way from that. If you want to give full responsibility for RTÉ's output to the State, you cannot step away from that fact. I do not for a second believe that Deputy Gould is somebody who would interfere, but nor can we step away when we look at what is happening in Europe and the US. A government after us may be complicit in that sort of that behaviour. We are not legislating for this moment. We are legislating for the decades to come. Such a move would render the organisation incredibly vulnerable, and leave it high and dry and at the mercy of future governments. If there is an accusation against a next or future government, we cannot trust that any future government would not neglect public service broadcasting for one reason or another. It is not about us or what comes after us. It is about the generations beyond that. We do not legislate for the moment. We legislate for the decades to come. I cannot step away from that. I believe Deputy Gould to be a good, genuine and honourable public servant to whom I often look. However, neither he nor I will be around forever. That is why we cannot tie ourselves to that for an eternity.

The Social Democrats believes it should remain a multiannual model of partial funding, which already exists as public service funding. The level of funding and the direction of its allocation should be regularly reviewed, especially given the current state of affairs in RTÉ and the fact that normality will not return unless a substantial body of work is conducted towards rebuilding strength, confidence and so on. We propose that the Exchequer should act as one of a three-stranded approach to funding RTÉ, as outlined in our amendment to the Government's amendment. The second could be provided by a social media company levy. I do not believe that is catered for in the motion. It does not take into account the fact that the Elon Musks of the world have a responsibility here. We should not negate ourselves from challenging them head on and eye-to-eye. Too often in this Chamber, we regulate ourselves to the Westminsterisation of Sinn Féin versus the Government. We have to see beyond that to the Elon Musk, Twitter and Facebook. We aim to see them as people we need to target within the space. The proliferation of misinformation and disinformation is in many ways a problem of these companies' creation. If these companies are unwilling to do their part a levy should be applied to them as a contribution to public service broadcasting, so we may mount a defence against the chaos and noise that flashes by our screens every day. That is my problem with Deputy Gould's motion. It does not take that into account. I do not discount that the Deputy views politics as few do on his side of the Chamber. We talk about public service broadcasting, but this probably goes beyond that and we need to take that into account in terms of how we legislate. We have to legislate for companies like Twitter, X and Facebook. Public service broadcasting must exist as a bastion of trust in Irish society.

For that to happen, RTÉ must act in a way that garners the public's trust. It failed in this and it will take a sea change in attitudes to restore the esteem in which it was once held. My parents and grandparents listened to the 1 o'clock show to get their information. That has probably changed a little bit now. They are on Facebook, etc. There is a growing abstention from fee paying as a result of dissatisfaction. The only way to encourage those who are unwilling to pay is to prove that RTÉ will be reformed in a manner that is deserving of public trust and funds. I listen to the shows and I see the kinds of broadcasters who take part in the shows. I believe in the people who believe in RTÉ in many ways but those who were charged with its governance failed them. We also need to look at that.

I fundamentally believe what the Sinn Féin motion lacks is a social media levy. We cannot step away from that. Our amendment provides for a social media levy as a one of three steps. The funding stream to cut the cost of the fee for consumers is an integral part of our amendment. I hope Sinn Féin will consider it. The Government will vote it down and that is fine. We are considering what comes after.

Making Revenue the bogeyman of licence fee collecting, like some in the House consider, is an action beyond the treatment as a fee. Public service broadcasting should not be a tax. It should not be considered on those grounds. If it is, it will fail everybody and, therefore, that is not the solution. Returning public confidence to pre-scandal levels should not only be a focus; it should be a direction. We should instil a kind confidence in the people whose doors we knock on and say, "When you turn on your telly, you'll get a confidence greater than you'll experience when you turn on your phone to view social media." We need to get into that space. RTÉ has to prove its worth and must fulfil its duties, and the State must ensure this route is taken. While doing that, the State cannot place an undue burden that they have to fill the obligation of the ideology of the State as it exists at that moment. That is a failure of legislation.

Our amendment acknowledges public service journalism - accurate and impartial reporting in the public interest. It is a central pillar of Irish society and democracy. Confidence in RTÉ has reached an all-time low as a result of successive scandals, undermining public trust in the institution. Meanwhile the spread of misinformation and disinformation is growing exponentially on social media platforms and having a malign impact on the media ecosystem and damaging our democracy. There are a multitude of different ways to approach that. Our amendment takes a three-stage approach, a very clearly social democrat approach. I hope Sinn Féin and others across the Chamber will include that. The most important thing is to combat disinformation.

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