Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 16 January 2019
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Climate Action
Third Report of the Citizens' Assembly: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. Jim Jennings:
I would add to that. We have seen an increase in our output over the last years. It is increasing as we go. "Drivetime" features pieces on climate change every two to three days. We also do other programming such as "Ireland's Deep Atlantic" in early 2018 and "Eco Eye", along with documentaries and science week - and as the director general has said we plan to do climate change as our big picture later this year. We are commissioning more documentaries as we speak. We have another two and possibly three landmark documentaries coming up within the next 12 months looking at this area. This is not just based on public demand for more information, it is also coming from our staff who are very engaged on this. They know that we do not have to go around programme teams asking them to do climate change; they are doing it of their own volition. We do not have to tell them to do it. As the Deputy said, we all have young kids and family members, and the younger generation is really engaged on this and is nearly driving the older generation on the issue. This will be reflected more and more in our programming as we go forward.