Mr. Patrick Costello:

These complexities are already exist. The archive department spends a lot of time managing them and it does very well in that regard. Issues around rights, obligations and contractual duties already exist. We are not, therefore, creating a new problem by passing this legislation. We are creating a problem which already exists. It is managed very well and we can continue to do so. That is what the staff in the archive do. While the staff could do with more support, they already do the work well and will continue to do so.

Senator Byrne asked whether we need legislation. Yes, we do. While there is a lot of good work done, if we want to ensure that in 20, 30 and 50 years the good work is still being done, then we need legislation. It is important to set out a strong vision and mandate.

There are much wider questions, way beyond the scope of this Bill, about our National Archives and other archives and what we are doing with them. There are challenges to archives as we move to a digital age. How are all these emails Department officials are sending to each other going to end up in the National Archives? While that is beyond the scope of this Bill, it is an incredibly important question. We should create legislation to establish for the National Archives a power to demand documents and for it to control documents in order that we will have a strong grounding for it and to ensure there is a commitment in this regard going forward.

While this legislation may impose a prescriptive obligation on the director general and RTÉ, lots of other legislation does that too and those obligations do not necessarily get in the way of RTÉ being an excellent public service broadcaster. There are potential impacts and they need to be considered. The funding of all of this may need to be considered as well. Although these issues should be considered, they should not stand in the way of impeding this Bill or setting a greater ambition for ourselves. We may be on a par with other European broadcasters. It is a reflection of the excellent work by RTÉ, about which I spoke, that it is winning all these awards. We can do better. When I look at other countries that have big national archives, I see examples of how we can do better. To achieve the objectives Senator Byrne talked about, we need this Bill. It all comes together in that regard.