Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister and the Bill. I endorse Senator Ryan's last point. It is a great pity there are not packages which carry, say, Spanish, French or German options. About 20 years ago I remember calling on the late Fr. Faul. One of his few pleasures in life was that he had a satellite dish and a package which gave him access to European channels. We are a member of the European Union and we cannot live in what the French would call an Anglo-Saxon world. That is the vision of Mr. Rupert Murdoch but it is not mine and it should not be that of this country.

The national broadcasting station is a major symbol these days and has been for the past 50 years of national sovereignty and identity. If, and God forbid, in these democratic days anyone was contemplating a coup or a rising in the State, they would not descend first on Leinster House, Government Buildings or Dublin Castle but on RTE in Donnybrook. I am strongly committed to the concept of public service broadcasting. I accept that is a concept which originated across the water with Lord Reith but it is equally applicable and, by and large, works well. I am proud of our national broadcaster.

I have two criticisms, however, one of which is of a technical nature. There are too many technical breakdowns and there could be tightening up. I accept some breakdowns may be unavoidable.

The other, which is a general political one, is that some broadcasters produce what one might describe as polemical programmes with which one may or may not agree. That is not my point and I am not suggesting they should be suppressed or censored, but those type of programmes would merit some format for discussion afterwards from different points of view. I am thinking, for example, of Cathal O'Shannon's programme about wartime immigration. There are points of view other than the one expressed in the programme and there is other information. For programmes such as that there should be some forum live on air to discuss them.

The Minister is concerned that there should continue to be access to public service broadcasting of the main Irish channels free of charge. That is proper. It would be dreadful if the RTE channels, TG4 and so forth could only be transmitted courtesy of Mr. R. Murdoch or his equivalents. While travelling on the DART this morning I noticed an advertisement in the newspaper for RTE 2. It states that there is no connection fee, no subscription paid and no upgrade required, but that it is just the ticket for sport. I thoroughly approve of the advertisement.

The degree to which there is comprehensive coverage for the RTE stations in Northern Ireland has been an ongoing issue for a long number of years. One of the Minister's predecessors, the Leader of the House, Senator O'Rourke, was heavily involved in dealing with this when she was a Minister. There was an agreement in the last year or two that it was desirable, in principle, that there should be all-island coverage. Perhaps the Minister would update us on the position.

Equally, it would also be valuable for Irish communities abroad to have access to the stations. There are Irish communities in Australia and America as well as in Europe and so forth, and these people should have access to them. There is access via the Internet but that is not the same as being able to turn on the television and relax in an armchair to watch it.

A multiplicity of channels will be available. Speaking as a member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission, I believe we should take this opportunity to deal with the direct broadcasting of proceedings of the Oireachtas. In the United States, for example, there is direct access to the debates in Congress and in congressional committees. There are two models. One is a dedicated parliamentary channel which would be edited; the alternative is that people would have free and unimpeded access to parliamentary proceedings.

More people watch "Oireachtas Report" than one might expect. It is not just dedicated political followers who do so. I believe people would be interested in having an ability to tune into debates, sometimes at random. Advances in technology would enable them to do that. It would raise the quality of democracy and might even occasionally raise the quality of debate. I welcome the Bill.