Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I withdraw that comment, and I apologise for it. There were meetings with the then Minister, Alex White, on this in the past and the issue consistently has been to try to come up with a satisfactory and workable definition.

The Deputy is proposing the introduction of a 40% quota for Irish music to be played by Irish radio stations. The definition in the Bill is extremely vague and I do not believe it would assist the Irish music industry if introduced; rather, because of its vagueness, I believe it is likely to exclude a range of types of music written by Irish musicians. It would also be unworkable from a practical regulatory point of view.

The wording refers to musical composition that relates to some distinguishing element of the culture of the island of Ireland. Who is to decide what those distinguishing elements are to be? For example, will it encompass electronica music such as techno, ambient or downtempo? Furthermore, in a multi-cultural society such as we have now, how should we treat music written or enjoyed by those Irish citizens of African, eastern European or South American heritage?

I fully recognise the efforts that Deputy Penrose has made in attempting to come up with a useful definition. For instance, he has tried to avoid the pitfall of setting a definition based on nationality or residence which would be in breach of EU law on the grounds that it would discriminate against other European artists. The introduction of a quota along these lines was attempted previously by Niall Stokes, as referenced by Deputy Penrose, and was rejected by the European Commission. The definition was then replaced by one that was so vague as to make it unworkable. That is the same situation that would arise if Deputy Penrose’s Bill was enacted.

The current system, where stations volunteer Irish music commitments in their programme policy statements, was introduced to avoid this problem. This system works well, and while I believe there is room for improvement, I do not believe Deputy Penrose’s proposal would lead to any improvement. RTE is the biggest supporter of Irish music and artists in Ireland. Irish artists and musicians receive significant support across radio, television, orchestra and online platforms. A number of shows on both TV and radio are dedicated to the air play of Irish music. In the case of commercial radio stations, they already have a 30% Irish music quota as part of their licence agreement with the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI. Many of these stations play over and above that particular percentage. Editorial independence is essential to ensure diversity and the imposition of a quota representing a certain type of music is not workable. Independent radio stations are reliant on commercial revenue and their business plans are guided by audience levels. Stations broadcast what their audiences wish to hear and if they did not, audiences would switch to other stations resulting in decreased listenership and thus reducing revenues and potential job losses.

The quota in France is frequently raised in this debate. It should be noted that this quota requires air play of music in the French language. A similar quota for Ireland would require that the music played was in the Irish language. That would be too restrictive and contrary to the purpose of Deputy Penrose's Bill.

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