Dr. Paraic Travers:

I thank the Chairman and the members of the joint committee for inviting me to meet them today. I will begin by introducing myself, before addressing the approach I will take in my proposed role and my view of the challenges facing the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. I am a native of Donegal. Following education locally, I attended UCD where I completed a BA and MA in history, and the Australian National University where I completed a PhD on the administration of Ireland in the early 20th century. I have spent my career as a historian and educationalist largely in the public service in Ireland. As president and chief executive officer of St. Patrick's College in Drumcondra for 13 years between 1999 and 2012, I had responsibility for 250 full-time staff and an annual budget of approximately €30 million. I was previously lecturer and head of department at the college and dean of the joint faculty of humanities in St. Patrick’s College and Dublin City University. I have wide experience as a member of boards and statutory bodies in the educational and cultural field. I have served as a director of the Central Admissions Office and as a member of the Teaching Council. I was a member of the governing authority of Dublin City University for 14 years. As a founding director and vice-chair of the Centre for Cross-Border Studies in Armagh, I played an active role in promoting North-South co-operation for more than a decade. I was also a founding member and chairman of the North-South standing committee on teacher education, which was established under the Good Friday Agreement.

As a historian, I have taught, researched and published on modern Irish history, emigration and the Irish diaspora. I have lectured widely in Ireland, Britain, the United States and Australia. My publications include works on Parnell, de Valera, emigration, Irish culture and nationalism. I was a founding director of the Parnell summer school and am currently the chair of the Parnell Society. I am a member of the Irish universities historians committee on the decade of commemoration. I have been editor and chair of the editorial board of Studia Hibernica, the Irish studies journal, and have served on the board of a number of other journals. As an educationalist, I have been involved in the promotion of blended learning and digital technologies in teaching. I played a leading role in the establishment of TeachNet, the online community for teachers, and served as its chair for many years. As an honorary life member of the Irish Association of Teachers in Special Education, I have an ongoing interest in access and disability issues. I have had experience of industrial relations and trade union affairs in a number of capacities. As the Chairman mentioned, in recent months I have been acting as mediator in the dispute on junior certificate reform, at the request of the secondary teacher unions and the Minister for Education and Skills.

I am honoured to have been nominated to chair the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. The authority has an able chief executive officer and experienced staff who have responsibility for operational matters. I look forward to working constructively with them. I also look forward to working with the new board, which will have an appropriate balance of skills and experience for the fulfilment of its mandate.

The duties of the chair and of the board are clearly outlined in Part 2 of the Broadcasting Act 2009. The role of the board is focused on governance, policy and strategy; the role of the chair is to manage the board. I would like to acknowledge the work of Bob Collins and the outgoing board in establishing new structures, introducing key policies and regulating and promoting the sector

I have a deep commitment to public service and a long-standing interest in the educational and historical dimensions of broadcasting. In October 1958, Edward R. Morrow, the doyen of broadcast journalists said in regard to television, "This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is only wires and lights in a box". Morrow was speaking to radio and TV directors. His speech was a challenge to broadcasters to fulfil the potential of the broadcasting medium. That challenge remains as relevant today as it was 60 years ago. If anything, with dramatic social change in Ireland and the impact of globalisation and new technology, it is even more so. A healthy, vibrant democratic Republic is in part dependant on a healthy, vibrant and diverse broadcasting sector.

The BAI has an important strategic as well as a regulatory function. The outgoing board has adopted a strategic plan for the years 2014-16, which I enthusiastically endorse. My role is to ensure that this strategic plan is implemented. That strategy focuses on serving the needs of Irish society and ensuring that viewers and listeners have access to a diverse range of broadcasting voices and services. The underlying core values include protection of the public interest; fairness and proportionality; independence and impartiality; professionalism and commitment to learning; accountability, transparency and cost-effectiveness; and cultural and linguistic diversity. The overall vision is that the BAI should be trusted by the public, by broadcasters and by legislators to service the viewing and listening needs of Irish society.

Inevitably there will be significant challenges in implementing this strategy. Internally the authority contains two statutory committees – contract awards committee and compliance committee – each with its own remit prescribed by the Act. Mindful of the independence of these committees, it is my responsibility to ensure that the board as a whole works together as a strong, cohesive organisation.

If the authority is to be a trusted and informed voice on broadcasting and other media matters, it will need to engage more with the public and with other stakeholders. In fulfilling its regulatory brief, it will need to be adaptable and reduce unnecessary bureaucratic and administrative burdens, both on those who make programmes and on those who view or listen to them. Following extensive consultation the authority has developed a series of codes for the guidance of programme-makers, including the code of fairness and impartiality and, most recently, the code of programme standards and the BAI access rules which were launched yesterday. I welcome the access rules, in particular, as they address in an incremental way, with a view to enhancing their enjoyment of programmes, the needs of those who are deaf or who have a hearing impairment or those who are blind or partially sighted. The code of programme standards to be observed by programme-makers is also an important and timely landmark. In ensuring that such rules and codes are fair and appropriate, the authority will need to ensure a balance between viewer and listener expectation and the wider global media market where lesser regulation may exist.

The authority’s overall strategy is predicated on ensuring the strength of public, commercial and community broadcasting sectors in the face of a challenging financial environment and significant external competition. The BAI is committed to maintaining a strong, public service broadcaster while at the same time vindicating the requirement for accountability and transparency in the use of public funds.

The authority will continue to encourage and support high quality programmes through the Sound and Vision scheme which is having a significant cumulative impact. More than €70 million has been allocated under this scheme over the past five years. Notable recent examples of programmes supported under the scheme are, "One Million Dubliners", "Charlie", "Red Rock", "The Guarantee", "Corp agus Anam" and "Song of the Sea". The latter, which has recently been nominated for an Oscar, received €500,000 support from the Sound and Vision scheme. The authority will continue to support learning and development initiatives which build expertise locally and enhance the quality and diversity of programming.

The broadcasting environment is changing and challenging. The difficult economic context, diminishing advertising revenue, increased competition, particularly from abroad, new technology and media, all inhibit initiative and development. However, the paradoxical pattern of ever-increasing choice and diminishing quality, is not inevitable. Ed Morrow threw down the gauntlet to broadcasters and regulators in his day. He challenged them to ensure that TV and radio educated, illuminated and inspired because otherwise, it was just wires and lights in a box. We should not hesitate to embrace Morrow’s challenge while reshaping it for an Irish context. To that end, I look forward to working with the board, the broadcasters, the Minister, the Department and the members of this committee. Go raibh maith agaibh.