Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Independent) | Oireachtas source

If we cannot, under normal conditions, define, measure or test for offence, then it is preposterous to legally mandate broadcasters to filter it out, particularly in the world of live broadcasting. They cannot do it. So what do they do? They err on the side of caution. They make editorial decisions to stay away from certain topics and certain people and in so doing, they badly damage freedom of speech in Ireland. Here is how one journalist described the situation today, due to the inclusion of the word "offence":

There is a pathological fear of causing offence in large media organisations now more so than ever. Everyone has the right to their truth and their story, as long as they are not lying about it or not setting out with some kind of agenda to attack somebody else. People are afraid to tell their stories any more. It is a much poorer society if you have a situation where people from minorities, people who are in some way damaged or compromised or on the margins are not allowed to tell their stories.

What is the solution? This is why the effort was spent in getting this Bill before the House this morning - because of that one little word, "offence". It has fostered a culture of fear and caution in our national media that must not be allowed to exist. Our broadcasters must be able to ask the hard questions and to probe the difficult issues, whether people are offended by those questions or not.

This is a simple Bill. It does not seek to update every component of freedom of speech in Ireland; nor does it seek to update the defamation laws or any other parts of the Broadcasting Act. It aims to do one thing, namely, to reduce the culture of fear and caution that broadcasters are telling us exists every day in every newsroom, and in so doing, to radically improve freedom of speech in our country. One broadcaster summed up the objective of this Bill as follows:

The reason offence should be removed from the Act is that it cannot be defined by legislation. Libel can only be decided in court. One person's offence is another person's fair comment. To have this in legislation means broadcasters are simply shackled by guidelines over what they can and cannot do. If I do not know what it means, how can I do my job properly? What is terrible is that legislators seem to be differentiating between radio, television and newspapers. That is extraordinary because of the pass over of people. Eamon Dunphy writes and speaks. Matt Cooper writes and speaks. If we attempt to shut down critical media in the supposed pursuit of democracy, we make a mistake which will come back to haunt future generations.

Another broadcaster hoped this Bill would pass for the following reason:

It would make our jobs easier and it would make for a richer democracy. Right now we are forced to self-censor. The media are left to decide what is offensive and what is not offensive. The referendum next year is going to be stunted for fear of offending people.

In accepting this Bill, the Minister, the Cabinet and the Oireachtas can send out a powerful message that freedom of speech is highly valued in Ireland, that broadcasters have an obligation to probe, question and speak truth to power, that the obligation sometimes results in people being offended, and that that is okay. I commend this Bill to the House.

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