Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 85:

In page 68, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following: “Amendment of section 82 of Principal Act

31.Section 82 of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (2):

“(2A) In the case of no fewer than 50 per cent of the board members of RTÉ, a person shall not be appointed to these roles unless he or she is able to communicate proficiently in the Irish language.”.”.

I thank the Chair for allowing me to substitute for An Teachta Ó Snodaigh. This is a simple amendment relating specifically to the board make-up of RTÉ. When TG4 was established as the all-Irish broadcaster, it was put into law that 100% of the board must be competent in Irish. RTÉ was established as a bilingual national broadcaster, yet there remain no requirements in place for Irish competency in RTÉ. RTÉ has obligations to broadcast and provide services in Irish as well as English, and it is clear from the reports from An Coimisinéir Teanga that RTÉ has failed in this regard and failed to fulfil obligations to the Irish language.

Aside from Raidió na Gaeltachta only a tiny fraction of what RTÉ broadcasts is in Irish. In a 2017 report, An Coimisinéir Teanga said it was less than 1%. I appreciate things may have improved slightly since 2017 but they have not improved to the degree they need to. Where content is produced in Irish, reporters are paid less than their counterparts doing the same work in English. All of this points to RTÉ failing to take seriously its obligation to the Irish language and its obligations as a bilingual broadcaster. In any other bilingual state it would be expected that the board would at least have a competency in both languages of that state. That does not exist here.

This amendment would also ensure Irish is an essential requirement for half the membership of the RTÉ board. They would have to be able to use, speak and communicate in both English and Irish. It is almost insulting to say we could not find competent people to sit on the board of RTÉ. Almost 40% of the country has some level of Irish. It would be very insulting to say we could not find talented, experienced and skilled people who are competent in the Irish language to take up a position on that. By not ensuring the board is competent in Irish, we are in turn failing to ensure the Irish language itself and the Irish-speaking community are understood and represented at board meetings. There is a risk of the same problems that have happened in the past reoccurring in future. I again refer to the 2017 report. RTÉ stands for Raidió Teilifís Éireann and not the Irish television station. Those who use the Irish language on a daily basis have a very realistic expectation we ensure that, at the very top of that organisation, there are people at board level who are competent and able to communicate effectively in the Irish language.