Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputies for the high quality of this debate. While I probably should not state this, it contrasted with the debate related to climate we had in recent days when people were not listening to one another and did not try to tease out the difficulties of some of the issues we confront. This debate, however, showed a remarkable willingness to recognise the tricky nature of the challenges we face in broadcasting. It is the sort of debate we should have in the House.

I am the first to agree that this Bill is not the answer to all the challenges we face regarding the state of broadcasting. Deputy Dooley starkly outlined the source of those pressures. We have platforms that do not believe they have any editorial responsibility nonetheless claiming the lion's share of advertising revenue associated with people accessing content of various sorts. This creates a serious challenge for those media outlets trying to observe journalistic standards. This will be an ongoing concern. Deputy Ó Cuív reflected that when he asked how we are to define public service broadcasting in this rapidly changing environment. People are choosing to consume content, much of which they regard as important, on various media and in completely different places. In that context, how do we define public service broadcasting? I do not know where this comes from but the traditional definition of public service broadcasting was to "inform, educate and entertain". The concept did not go beyond that. It did encompass the requirements Deputy Ó Cuív specified. The feeling was that it was sufficient to appoint a board to RTÉ or TG4 to interpret those requirements. It was not for mere politicians to specify them.

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