Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

The irony is not lost on me, as a Sinn Féin elected representative, that I have an opportunity to make a contribution to a Bill on broadcasting and RTE, 13 years after censorship against Sinn Féin under section 31 was lifted. Section 31 was highly undemocratic, stifled debate and discussion and denied viewers and listeners in this State the experience of fellow Irish people. Despite our criticism of the effect of State censorship directed against my party, and its lingering effects on some RTE personnel, Sinn Féin is committed to support for public service broadcasting.

The core point is that we were promised an RTE-led digital television service in previous years by Governments led by Fianna Fáil and the Progressive Democrats Party. The original proposal from the then Minister, Deputy de Valera, in the late 1990s included an enhanced RTE service with an international partner. It would have extra Irish-based channels, including 24 hour news, current affairs, education, science and so on. The Government dithered, letting BSkyB and then NTL enter the market with their own digital offerings. This made any move by RTE meaningless. While new stations like Setanta, Channel 6 and the City Channel are welcome, they do not constitute the promised expanded public service. The full ignominy of this became obvious when RTE became an add-on to the BSkyB digital satellite service.

I welcome moves in the Bill to allow RTE to broadcast to Irish communities living outside the island of Ireland, but what about the situation on the island of Ireland? RTE has a remit to broadcast all over the island, but what about the areas in the North that do not receive RTE? Will the Bill address this problem in any way? I have heard the argument proposed that we should follow the French example of TV5, which is a worldwide publicly funded service. However, such a scenario seems far off for RTE when it is not broadcasting all over the island of Ireland. Does the Minister accept that there should be all-Ireland coverage? The Irish diaspora around the world should be facilitated by receiving up-to-date current affairs and news from RTE. Retaining a link with one's country is desirable and television is a good medium to provide it. It is also important for people to keep in touch with home when they are abroad.

I am conscious of the need to move with the technological times. We have been very late with the introduction of digital terrestrial television. Broadcasting is obviously evolving, like other sectors. The Minister stated that digital television was important in providing an alternative to analogue television, increased quality and a range of broadcasting services. It is not only about that, but the quality of programmes. With the advent of NTL Digital and other services, television in Ireland is rapidly becoming more like that in the United States. Bruce Springsteen famously sang about "57 channels and nothing on".

We want a television service that will promote Irish created content, be it news, current affairs, documentaries, sports, films or regional programmes. This Bill effectively states that such a service will not be delivered. Channel 4 has a similar budget to RTE, yet its More 4 and E4 channels have news and current affairs programmes that put RTE to shame.

I am glad that radio services have now been included in the Bill. The National Council for the Blind made a good argument about extending the Bill to include radio so that it caters for members of Irish communities outside Ireland who are also blind or vision impaired. Are there any provisions for subtitling programmes for people who are hard of hearing? I am also concerned that subscription charges should not be used as a back door for companies to introduce charges.

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