Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 61:

In page 52, to delete lines 26 to 28.

I am looking for clarity here. I read section 46L(7) as saying RTÉ can waive the 20% requirement of a news service across its seven radio stations, namely, Radio 1, 2FM, Lyric FM, Raidió na Gaeltachta, Gold, Pulse and 2XM. That was never the intention of legislation in this area. It is important all of the national broadcast stations run news content and that it is news content relevant to their particular audience. The last thing we need is a situation where we have national broadcast stations devoid of news content or where there is uniform news content across a number of channels. Each of these stations specifically targets a particular section of the population and it is imperative that news content is targeted at each particular section. With the way technology has gone now, this may be the only independent, unbiased news content these particular listeners get. My reading of this legislation as drafted is that RTÉ, by carrying its news content on RTÉ Radio 1, would not have to provide news content on the likes of 2FM. Every single person who pays for a TV licence would be very concerned to think a news channel targeted at young people would not have a news service and one that is specifically targeted at its audience and listenership. I would be grateful if the Minister could clarify this. I hope I am wrong in my interpretation but clarity is required.