Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

Looking through this legislation, it strikes me that we are focusing on areas which have required attention for a long time. Most people welcome diversity because television in a global sense has become commonplace and uniform. We have been lucky that the development of public broadcasting in Ireland has been in the hands of RTE over the years. We can make our views known because it is a public broadcaster and we feel a sense of ownership that has led to many lively debates.

Prior to satellite television and the independent networks, when RTE had a monopoly, there was a danger of smugness. RTE could refute or refuse to listen to the views coming back from the audience and it is no exaggeration that many people felt that what was on the screen did not always reflect their aspirations or the quality of life they desired. There was not always an opportunity to respond to a centralised opinion that was often seen as elitist because there was no forum to do that.

In the more competitive era, however, we have learned what life without RTE might be like. Those of us who watch Sky and, to our shame, Fox television, know that we are dealing with the lowest common denominator. It is propaganda that makes it obvious that the service is concerned with the profit margin, a fact that comes across strongly in much satellite television. RTE, however, has established a quality of service over the years which could serve as a model.

I remember going to America for the first time many years ago and because of our perception of America as a progressive, successful country that was noted for freedom of speech, we expected television to be an inspiring example for the rest of the world from which we could learn but I have never watched anything more banal in my life. During the course of talk shows there was no effort to analyse any topic in depth, they were timed to the second and then there was a commercial break.