Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister and this debate on the Broadcasting Bill. Like previous speakers, I welcome the general thrust of the Bill. It is a comprehensive and far-reaching measure, and its introduction is timely. I am one of the Members old enough to remember when there was only one television channel in this country, Telefís Éireann. In the south east — Senator Walsh will remember this too — we used to have fuzzy reception of some channels from the west coast of England and Wales. That was back in the late 1970s. Traditional broadcasting is experiencing new challenges which will remain in future, including the advent of broadband, Internet access and satellite channels. Digital recording and playback technology is being introduced in many areas too. These changes create revenue-raising challenges for broadcasters. It seems users play what they want to see and fast forward through the advertisements. The technology exists although many people may not realise this. Advertising in general will be significantly affected with the advent of these new technologies.

I spoke on the Order of Business last week about the advertisement of junk food, especially during children's programmes on television. Speaking as the father of young children — and I know many others would agree — the advertising of junk food needs to be restricted. We are storing up significant problems for the future with the promotion of such foodstuffs. Significant pressure is coming on families to purchase goods that are marketed extensively on children's programmes. I see a problem here. I do not know what the remit of the broadcasting authority will be in this regard. If we restrict advertising on the national airwaves and radio stations, how do we control the satellite channels that are received in almost every living room and bedroom throughout the country? The Kid's Channel on the Sky network, for example, broadcasts almost 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with significant advertising time devoted to junk food, toys and so on. Perhaps the Minister of State can clarify what the remit of the authority is and what control it will have on such advertising given that it can restrict the national broadcaster? There is a circle to be squared and I am interested to hear how this can be done.

The establishment of the broadcasting authority of Ireland is welcome. It will take responsibility for the existing functions of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission. Fine Gael welcomes the Bill but one criticism is that the political response to changes in the broadcasting sector has been too slow, while technology is moving so quickly. This legislation will have to be reviewed, even before the end of the present Government term, owing to advances in technology. It is something that will have to be constantly reviewed. The Minister said in previous statements to the House on this matter that the national transmission roll-out would take place by September 2012. I wish to see how this process can be tracked and how we can monitor its progress and costings. This should be of interest to the House and the wider public.

On the appointments of board members to the new authority — this may be an item of contention — Fine Gael is of the view that while we welcome the thrust of the new Bill which allows the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to have a role in the appointment of new members, the party considers that members of any board should have the proper qualifications and competencies. We suggest that the relevant committee has a significant role to play in vetting — if that is the correct term — and ensuring all board appointees have the necessary competencies. This will allow board members to play a proper role. This is the only fair and transparent system of making Government appointees to boards and is something for which the public is crying out. Government appointments to the boards of State organisations are sometimes used as a political football by both the Government and the media. It is important the Oireachtas can stand over the appointments and ensure such people are competent and able for the job.

Fine Gael also welcomes the broadcasting codes governing the standards and practices the authority will oversee. All broadcasters have responsibilities and certain standards to maintain. This legislation will ensure broadcasters keep to a high standard and that they are balanced, impartial and objective in reporting. The legislation contains a fine system of sanctions that will ensure where a broadcaster is out of line or attacks a person's reputation unnecessarily, it will be fined or brought to book.

On licensing and the collection of licence fees, there is a good deal of evasion of payment of television licences. An Post has done good work in the past but the rate of payment of licence fees leaves much to be desired. We are told it costs €12 million to collect €200 million in fees. We must examine this revenue collecting exercise to see where we can introduce efficiencies and a more systematic approach to collecting fees. We hear advertisements threatening those who do not have a valid licence with a knock on the door from an inspector. Such advertisements are fine but there should be a more systematic, efficient approach. We need to examine the way An Post operates in this regard. We could operate with other organisations such as the ESB, for example, which has a sizeable database, the meter point reference number database, with specific addresses for each dwelling place in the country. There may be an opportunity for the Government and An Post to liaise with the ESB using that system and such a collaboration may result in a more systematic licence fee collection system. Is it possible to collect licence fees in the way motor tax is collected, namely, on-line? Many people would welcome this option as it would save time, prove accessible and be easier for people to renew their licences this way.

I, along with Senator Boyle, have spoken previously about digital technologies. Not only is there a satellite television channel broadcasting tarot cards and so on, there are also gaming, gambling and shopping channels. These channels are broadcast into the living rooms of homes in the country. Has the authority any remit in this sector? The advent of these channels brings new challenges to the way we control what is broadcast. Every broadcaster using satellite has direct access to every living room in the country.

On the public broadcasting service, I compliment RTE on its tradition in promoting Irish film, documentaries, the Irish language and especially the development of TG4. Since its introduction it has played a significant role in promoting the Irish language, heritage and culture. The "All-Ireland Gold" series tapped into a niche in the market of viewers wishing to see the sporting archives. RTE also deserves credit for the "Reeling in the Years" programme. It is remarkable how the public broadcasting archives are of interest to citizens.

I would welcome a public interest channel which would broadcast the workings of the Houses of the Oireachtas. The citizens of the country need to know more about what happens in the Upper and Lower Houses and the local authorities, which are at the coalface of democracy. Such a public service channel could broadcast much of what happens at local authority meetings throughout the country as well as EU meetings. I wish to criticise RTE slightly for the "Oireachtas Report" programme. It broadcasts the programme very late; it was on at 12.45 a.m. last night. Someone is quoted as saying the programme is for insomniacs or people starting the night shift and having breakfast. The treatment of this House by RTE is very poor, with minimum coverage using only the sound bite or celebrity. However, many important issues are discussed here and there is room for improvement in the present format of "Oireachtas Report" and perhaps the new channel will address this.

The Irish film channel will be beneficial to the production and promotion of Irish films. In my constituency of Waterford, the Waterford Institute of Technology is offering a higher diploma in television production in a co-operative arrangement with Údarás na Gaeltachta and a private company called Nemeton Television. The course will train young producers to make Irish films and documentaries. These producers will be able to take advantage of the Irish film channel, so I compliment the Minister on providing for that in the Bill. However, the question arises of how the channel will be funded.