Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Labour)

I support Deputy Durkan's amendments in respect of the broadcasting of Oireachtas proceedings. I used to be a Labour Party Whip and represented the party on the broadcasting committee. I am still a member of the broadcasting committee and the promotion of more widespread broadcasting of our national Parliament has long been an interest of mine.

I believe all public affairs deserve to be broadcast live. That is why, six or seven years ago, I was the first person to propose the broadcasting of meetings of Dublin City Council of which I was proud to be a member. Webcasting of the council meetings has started recently. The other local council, Fingal County Council, has used webcasting for a year or so. It would be very interesting for the public to see their 25 or 30 councillors, or in the case of Dublin City Council, 52, in action at meetings. It would then be able to hold councillors directly accountable rather than not having a clue whether its representatives voted for a rezoning or other dodgy decision.

This is even more necessary in the proceedings of the national Parliament. Deputy Durkan's idea of inserting the broadcasting of Parliament in the Title of the Bill and reiterating it throughout the text is a useful initiative. We are grateful for "Oireachtas Report" which is broadcast every evening. For example, the meeting of the Select Committee on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, of which I am a member, was broadcast last night. I did not see the programme because it was so late and I was speaking in the House at 11.25 p.m. I did not see many members of the press accompanying us here then. I saw a few scuttle off at 6 p.m. or 6.30 p.m., but in the real world of politics, which many of them do not understand, we were still here until late. As the Minister of State knows, we were plugging away at the committee until 10.15 p.m., then we came in here to support our colleagues in the debate on the Carbon Fund Bill and finally I spoke in an Adjournment debate on a local matter. It would be good to cover all that activity live.

We welcome the initiatives RTE has taken in this regard, and TG4, whose coverage of the Order of Business on Thursday has proved a valuable initiative. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle must have noticed that under our antiquated Standing Orders the only facility for backbench Members to speak is to use the obsolete section 31 provision. This has expanded on Thursdays because TG4 took the initiative to broadcast the Order of Business.

Deputy Durkan's point is that we would like to follow the UK example, where one of the main eight channels on free-sat is BBC Parliament. Yesterday, British citizens could watch the proceedings of the annual budget and the leaders' replies to the Chancellor as they happened. That is a great advantage in a democracy. We need to enhance our service and this is the first opportunity we have to legislate to do so. I warmly support my colleague.

I tabled amendments to this effect to a previous Bill. My amendments Nos. 11 and 12 relate to the additional functions given to the RTE Authority in respect of multiplexes and the additional powers given to local community regional and national broadcasters. When I submitted those amendments I was anxious that the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland would have a separate role. In discussions on the previous Broadcasting Bill which was to outline the shape of broadcasting structures, I was determined to try to preserve the independence of public service broadcasting. The Government is not bringing this Bill forward although the public spent a great deal of time on it through the e-consultation process, as the Minister of State knows, and our committee devoted two days of hearings to it. The amendments relate to my contribution at that time.

See this speech in context