Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 38:

In page 44, to delete lines 30 to 34 and substitute the following:

"(2) The total daily time for broadcasting advertisements in the television broadcasting service must not exceed a maximum of 20 per cent of the total daily broadcasting time and the maximum time to be given to advertisements in any hour shall not exceed a maximum of 12 minutes averaged over 2 consecutive hours.".

Amendments Nos. 38 and 39 deal with the same issue of the maximum amount of advertising that we will allow broadcasters to broadcast. The Minister's view is that there is enough advertising on television and radio and we do not need any more. The Bill provides for 15% of the total daily broadcast and ten minutes in the hour can be attributable to advertising.

I propose that we increase those figures. We are concerned here with giving the authority the power to set a maximum. There is no reason that the authority should not have the power, under certain circumstances, to increase the figure to a maximum of 20% or 12 minutes over consecutive hours.

Many Irish broadcasters are financially on their knees. When one examines what is considered best practice, many EU countries, including the UK, have no limits on radio advertising. They have decided that if there were too much advertising on one radio station, people will switch over to another. Ireland, however, regulates this area with a cap on the amount of advertising broadcast. Will the Minister allow a little more flexibility in the Bill's provision in this area? My amendment would provide an opportunity to allow broadcasters to increase revenue stream at certain times in the day. The proposed cap in this Bill is too limiting. Will the Minister examine how other countries have approached this area? I believe the Minister will find that my amendment is more in sync with the practice of most countries that regulate this area.

Having spoken to several broadcasters on this matter, allowing 12 minutes to be averaged over two consecutive hours is considered practical. We do not want a television or radio station having to end, say, an interesting interview because a certain minutage of advertising must be fitted into one hour. It makes sense to have a flexibility to allow a station carry that minutage into the next hour.

Minutage should be averaged out over two hours rather than having hard and fast exact minutage rules per hour. Will the Minister consider some flexibility in this area? If it were to be abused, the authority would have the power to impose the maximum limits that the Minister is proposing in the legislation anyway. All this amendment will do is give the authority the extra power to apply a slightly looser arrangement to advertising rules. It is a pragmatic response to a credible appeal from the broadcasting sector.

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