Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Costello for bringing forward this Bill. I welcome the opportunity to speak on it. The Government will not be opposing the Bill and will allow it to progress for detailed debate on Committee Stage. While the intention of the Bill is laudable, and I agree with the principle behind it, there are number of difficulties which may arise from application of the Bill if enacted. That said, this is a subject worthy of debate. Before outlining these difficulties, I reiterate that I agree with the intention behind the Bill.

I have stated on numerous occasions that public service broadcasting is vital to our democracy and to society as a whole. It informs, educates and entertains. Our public service broadcasters produce thousands of hours of valuable public service content, from news and current affairs to entertainment and sport to broadcasts of commemorations and festivals. In essence, this content encompasses moments of great historical significance to our country as a whole but to each individual person any of this public service content, no matter the subject, occasion or programme, could be considered historic and of great personal value.

RTÉ has been broadcasting for nearly 100 years and has in its possession thousands of hours of content, encompassing moments of both national and international significance. The archived content in possession of RTÉ, and all of the broadcasters in the State, is instrumental in the preservation of Ireland’s broadcasting heritage. Indeed, it is important in the recording of our national heritage and the growth of our State over the past century. I agree that it is vitally important that this content is not only preserved but that it is also made available for educational, research and entertainment purposes for generations to come.

There are some technical points in the wording of the Bill that would require some further consideration. The proposal to amend section 89(2) of the Broadcasting Act does not just refer to the director general of RTÉ, but also of TG4. The Bill, as drafted, may inadvertently place obligations on the director general of TG4. If the intention is for this Bill to also apply to all public service broadcasters - and we should look at the wider archiving of public service content - then this would need to be considered and addressed in a different manner. Also, as the section of the Act to which I refer outlines the obligations of the directors general of our public service broadcasters this may be overly prescriptive by placing an undue personal burden on them and potentially allow for legal challenges against them as opposed to the organisation in respect of archiving matters.

The Bill proposes that under the principal objects and powers of RTÉ as outlined in section 114 of the Act, the archives would be free for general, personal consumption. In principle I agree with this. However, legislation compelling the organisation to provide for archived content to be freely available upon request has the potential to place a significant burden on the organisation at a time when it is in the process of examining its cost base and how it will operate in the future in a cost-effective and sustainable manner.

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the significant work that RTÉ is already undertaking to archive, index and catalogue its significant wealth of content. The RTÉ Archives website provides on a daily basis free, curated content of interest for Irish audiences which can be searched and enjoyed by the Irish public from anywhere in the world. There are a number of curated exhibitions on the site, for example, 1916 in 1966, featuring audio and visual content from the 1966 commemoration events, some of which had been made available in full for the first time. There are also more than 18,000 RTÉ news reports available featuring content from 1985 to 1990. These will ultimately encompass content up to 1999. RTÉ is currently undertaking a large-scale digitisation, indexing and cataloguing project in order to make its substantial collection of content available. Its current audio archiving project, encompassing content from the 1950s to 1999 is expected to be completed towards the end of this year. This consists of approximately 200,000 objects covering all genres of radio content, including drama, sports, music, Irish language news and more. Its video project consisting of approximately 250,000 video tapes from the 1980s to the mid-2000s is expected to commence shortly, with an estimated completion date of the end of 2027. Both are significantly complex projects that involve detailed, expert-led planning and significant financial investment, as well as expert archival and technical infrastructure and skills to ensure that the material is safely managed. It is also imperative that all projects adhere to best archiving practices, including the correct management and storage of the data. This is vital to ensure the longevity of the archived material. I refer to all of this just to give a flavour of the scale of the digitisation and archiving work that RTÉ is already undertaking.

In its strategic vision published last November, RTÉ committed to enhancing access to its substantial collections through new digital services and partnerships with cultural heritage bodies, which I welcome. A range of partnerships are already in place and RTÉ has worked with the National Library, the National Museum, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Royal Irish Academy and other organisations on a number of initiatives to give sight to areas of its substantial archives. RTÉ also collaborates with the organisers of events such as the National Ploughing Championships and the Cork Film Festival, as well as the decade of centenaries. This highlights RTÉ's significant commitment to archiving, curating and making available material on an ongoing basis.

To introduce a statutory obligation to facilitate every ad hocarchival request has the potential to also divert resources from continuing the valuable work of safeguarding and preserving the important public service content and developing access for all interested parties. This is a very important point to remember. While accessing content is of the utmost importance, the content must first be preserved to ensure it is not lost forever. Diverting resources from this preservation process could be to the detriment of the collection in the long run.

The amendment to section 114, proposing that the archives “should be freely available”, also needs to be considered in the context of the potential implications with regard to questions of rights. A range of issues, including copyright legislation, data protection and contractual obligations, when considering full open access to archived material, or enhanced levels of open access to archived material, need to be fully considered. Protections may be needed regarding open access to the public to comply with the relevant legislation and contractual restrictions regarding repurposing, republishing and rebroadcasting the material. There is also the risk of misrepresentation with the increasing levels of access to Al and deepfake tools.

The independent sector, performers’ and contributors’ rights, as well as other third-party IP owners would have to be negotiated with both representative bodies and individual rights holders and owners to agree a level of access to information, recordings and other content to which RTÉ does not itself hold copyright and related rights. With regard to free access, at present fees for academic study requests and media studies courses are charged by RTÉ, but only at a for-cost basis, while commercial licensing fees are charged according to the intended use of the content. Should this content be provided for free, RTÉ would be required to absorb these costs and we would need to consider this carefully. While the intent of the Bill to allow anyone free access to archived content is admirable, it is imperative that it is compliant with relevant legislation and obligations. Of course, it is also of vital importance that performers, contributors and rights holders are not impacted monetarily by the enactment of the Bill, while also protecting against any monetary impact to RTÉ itself. As Minister for culture and arts as well as media, I am keenly aware of the potential impact any loss of these earnings may have on the industry and do not want to undermine the supports that are already in place for the sector.

There are a number of issues to be addressed by the Government which will have implications for the Broadcasting Act 2009 and for which I will be required to bring forward more substantive legislative amendments in due course. These include giving effect to a decision on the future funding of RTÉ and public service content. Legislative provisions regarding governance and accountability will also need to be considered in light of any recommendations which the expert advisory committee appointed by the Government last July to examine governance and culture at RTÉ, may bring forward. These reports are expected to be completed shortly and will form a key part of the continuing process of reform at RTÉ. Any additional legislative provisions required regarding archiving matters can be progressed through this legislation. In addition, a new archiving scheme, supported through the broadcasting fund, will be launched later this year by Coimisiún na Meán. This will provide funding and support for archiving projects for the wider sector, including RTÉ, and any projects it may have undertaken outside the above mentioned. For example, RTÉ made use of this scheme to undertake a number of projects including the acetate disc collection, including more than 5,300 recordings made for RTÉ radio between 1927 and the 1970s, published last year. It is also currently undertaking a project to preserve and curate the largest collection of Irish-language audio material in the State, incorporating all regions and dialects.

I would also like to reference the archiving initiatives of our other statutory public service broadcaster, TG4, which also has an extensive archiving project under way and its own dedicated archives website. More than 4,500 hours of content has already been digitised, indexed and catalogued, with support from the archiving scheme. In addition, a further 10,000 hours of content have been digitised but are yet to be indexed and catalogued, with thousands more hours to be archived. A special archiving project in conjunction with the Irish Traditional Music Association has also been delivered, digitising all Gradaim Ceoil content from 1998 to 2002 and making it available through its dedicated microsite. All of this must be considered in the round as we look to ensuring the preservation of public service content for future generations.

I agree with Deputy Costello that the archiving of public service content warrants discussion. However, as I have outlined, there are a number of important and ongoing archival projects which need to be completed so that we can ensure content is preserved and catalogued. This needs to be our priority, and then RTÉ can be required to address the most appropriate access platforms and systems. There also remain issues regarding intellectual property rights, contractual issues and royalty payments which would be impacted by free access. I welcome the recognition of the importance of public service media content for our future generations, but need to highlight that number of related matters which must be taken into account when considering the most appropriate legislative underpinning of our broadcasters’ legislative obligations.

See this speech in context