Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)

I note in the list of grouped amendments that my amendment No. 6 has been ruled out of order. The Ceann Comhairle informed me that the amendment I tabled cannot be taken as it was not anticipated in discussions on Committee Stage. I find this difficult to understand so I will explain what I meant.

Amendment No. 6 in my name would have assisted in the definition of the word political in section 10(3) of the basic Bill. That section states that no advertisement shall be broadcast which is directed towards any religious or political end or which has any relation to an industrial dispute. My amendment said that section 10(3) meant the promotion or opposition, directly or indirectly, of the interests of a political part or group and that the political contests referred to meant local elections, Dáil elections, elections to the European Parliament and so on.

People showed concern in the general discussions of this Bill on Second Stage and Committee Stage relating to the meaning of the language used. If the narrow interpretation used by the broadcasting corporation of Ireland were accepted it would mean that today, 200 years after Wilberforce succeeded in abolishing slavery in the British Empire, one would not be allowed speak about the issue. Most pertinently, one would not be allowed speak about a convention of the United Nations, which is manifestly absurd.

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