Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2006. I will speak about the broadcasting sector in general and take a deeper look at the role of the media in Ireland. We need to accept that the media has changed over the last five or six years. Before I consider the legislation, which relates to the broadcast media, I will speak about the direction the print media has taken over recent years. As elected Members of the Oireachtas, we should challenge the dumbing down by some sections of the print media of their coverage of Irish politics, which has been a sad development. Like many people outside the House, most Deputies are afraid to point out, in case they are punished for such comments, that many Irish newspapers are owned by a few wealthy people with a political agenda. The freedom and fairness of our press is diminished when owners interfere in the editorial control of the newspapers, as they sometimes do.

We need to examine the cultural bias and values of certain newspapers and media organisations. It is fair to ask whether they are acting in the public interest. As I understand it, top-class journalism is able to inform, educate and entertain. Two of those three core goals — to inform and to educate — seem to have gone out the window, as most branches of the media seem to be interested in entertainment and nothing else. At a time when the personal lives of politicians and pop stars are treated as being more important than serious political issues, some serious questions need to be asked. It is important to challenge media organisations about their lack of investigative journalism. I urge media professionals to reverse that trend.

Although I am critical of RTE from time to time, I generally consider it to be a top-class organisation which fulfils its public broadcasting remit. I wish to complain about RTE's bias in one respect. I refer to the way RTE represents Independent Deputies in this House, who are likely to achieve between 8% and 15% of the vote in many constituencies. They do not feature prominently on television as regularly as the members of parties which get between 1% and 3% of the vote. The journalists who work for our national broadcasting service need to explain what is going on. Is their approach democratic and in the public interest?

I was appalled in recent days when a journalist, Mr. Mick McCaffrey, was arrested in connection with the leak of a report on the case of the late Mr. Dean Lyons. The Minister, Deputy McDowell, and certain officials within the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform showed their brass necks this morning when they took the high moral ground and said they had nothing to do with Mr. McCaffrey's arrest. We know they were directly involved in the Frank Connolly case. I raise these fundamental questions as part of the broader debate on the media.

The Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2006 seeks to establish a more flexible and market-responsive model for licensing digital terrestrial television in Ireland. It will allow progress to be made towards the switch-off of analogue services. One of the Government's core broadcasting policy objectives is to ensure that the Irish public continues to have access to a range of quality programming, which is a central part of the Bill, on a universal and free-to-air basis. Many of us question the direction in which certain sections of the media are going.

I welcome the proposal to extend RTE's remit to allow it to use public funding to provide a broadcasting service to Irish emigrant communities abroad. I also welcome this positive development, which is necessary in light of the mass emigration from this country that took place over many years.

See this speech in context