James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I understand there are slots reserved later in the schedule for the speakers if they wish to come in.

It is not clear. The legislation does not appear to be crystal clear. It appears to be open to debate. The fact that we are even arguing it in this debate alone highlights that.

Looking again to the French experience, Daft Punk, an internationally successful eminent French outfit, could not get played on the French airwaves because of the quota legislation that was in place. It was not a French language outfit and, therefore, it could not qualify. That also highlights the difficulty.

How do we quantify this? I do not know how we quantify it. I can imagine how we quantify it but I am not sure how a court would interpret that. In legislation, we have to be a little clearer in how we do that. Meaning no disrespect, I appreciate the intent, but as it is currently formulated I cannot see how that would work.

We have to consider it is unduly restrictive of the Irish independent radio sector. We are unique in this country in that, unlike, say, France and other European states, we are English language speaking. It is our vernacular, although not our first language, and that means we are automatically catapulted onto the same stage as the United States, the United Kingdom and many other English-speaking content producers. That makes it infinitesimally more difficult for our content producers to produce on the English-language media than anywhere else. That is already a challenge, and a challenge that RTE, as a public service broadcaster, has to grapple with, but also that independent radio stations have to grapple with.

We are in a digital age. I do not see how the legislation, as I understand it, could apply to the likes of Spotify, Internet radio, digital radio, digital streaming, consumption via the web, consumption via television and consumption via multiple media. It appears to focus on one particular sector of output and, without commenting on the merits or otherwise of that, it seems unfair and disproportionate to concentrate on one sector at the expense of others.

Of course, it is a marketplace. There is competition and if we are to restrict and place artificial inhibitions on one sector in a free market and allow the others run amok, that is not a recipe for success. In that scenario, I would worry for the future of those independent radio stations which provide employment and an important public service remit in their news coverage and other aspects.

The commercial viability has to be questioned as well in terms of the radio stations themselves. For the most part, the ones we are talking about here are local. They know their audience. I was in my own local radio station, KFM, this morning and reviewed the schedule. There are already multiple Irish language and Irish music programmes on the schedule - "Irish Music Scene", "Ceol agus Caint", "K Country" - but those broadcasters know their market audience and they meet that demand. In a cultural expression, as much as anything else, the listeners hear what they want to hear. If the station feels that the listeners are demanding more of a certain type of content, they will provide that. The market finds its own level and the music market finds its own level in that regard. If there was a clamour for increased music of a certain type, that probably would be reflected already in the schedules because these stations need market share to succeed. My own local station, KFM, is on 49% radio share at present. As it is, it is doing fairly okay and it meets the 30% compliance requirement that is already in place from the BAI. I am not sure why we need to interfere and go beyond that.

Something else we need to consider is an open point the Deputy and the Minister have queried. My understand is RTE is not included in this legislation. The Deputy suggested that if that is so, an amendment may correct that. Certainly, as it is currently constituted, I do not see that RTE is included. I have been informed that RTE is not covered in this legislation. That would seem the elephant in the room. If the largest, State broadcaster, with the resources of the licence fee-----

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