Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

I accept that there are certain protections in this section but there is a slightly difference emphasis in amendment No. 42. There is a growing understanding that we need to know more about the impact of violence and explicit sexual behaviour as broadcast on television on people generally. I do not know how far we can take this but there has been a reaction because in the past those of us of a certain age lived under a severe censorship. However, we need a greater understanding of this aspect. It is more a matter of considering, looking at and exploring what is going on in terms of the influences that are coming from television. There are times when one doubts that codes of conduct have any impact. If one broadcaster is competing with another in terms of graphic material, I suspect that codes of conduct tend to be set aside because they are more akin to guidelines than anything else.

Amendment No. 42 is concerned with a cold analytical approach to the impact of such material, not on children but on adults and children. We need to look at the level and forms of violence in our society and understand why, generally speaking, we have become a more violent and aggressive society and what part television plays in that. It is not a problem we can solve alone. It is the kind of work that must be done at EU level. If we should put this specifically into the Bill, not merely stating that we would protect people from offensive material but also that we will consider the impact. If we do not look at what is happening in that relationship between broadcasting and the individual in the audience, we are missing the point in terms of what is going on in our lives and the role television plays in it.

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