Rónán Mullen (Independent)

I will be brief. I do not wish to hold up the House. This is an important issue.

Senator Norris rightly sought clarification on the subject of gambling. I was not suggesting it would be right for people to be provided with numbers which they could dial up in order to gamble. My point is that the channels which people receive simply by having a television in the House should not and do not provide for gambling services. By extension, we should exclude advertisements for psychic services, the promotion of sex services and so on. I do not blame the Minister for not addressing that issue in his reply. Perhaps he will address them now.

It would be censorship to suggest people could not subscribe to particular channels or pay extra to receive certain television channels which may provide these kind of services. My point is that we should treat ordinary accessible channels as a public thoroughfare to be respected and monitored.

Senator Alex White's raising of the issue of political advertising was thoughtful. However, I believe there is a distinction to be drawn here. Political advertising relates to who gets their hands on the levers of power to regulate people's lives whereas religious advertising relates to people making, as the Minister rightly said, metaphysical propositions. Here is the interesting matter. I share the Minister's concern about unintended consequences and I stated earlier that given it is possible for the Government to establish a structure for dialogue in which it engages with certain people and not with others, then it is not outside the bounds of human ingenuity for us to similarly provide for certain types of freedom for certain types of religious organisation. This is not something which we would specify in legislation.

If we are worried about the unintended consequences to people of allowing certain religious organisations, such as well-funded sects from abroad, to advertise and people are that much in need of protection why are we not worried about the impact of tarot cards and psychic services? Why are we not worried about the impact of advertisements directed towards the promotion of sex services?

On the issue of balance, the fundamental philosophical issue all of us must consider is whether we believe a problem has existed with regard to fairness and balance in terms of the representation of certain ideas and values particularly on issues of public controversy. It is easier for those on the liberal side of the argument to think there has not been a problem because by and large the coverage of these issues by our public service broadcaster has tended towards their point of view. I do not ask anybody in the House to take my word for it. I gave the House the words of Bob Collins, the former director general of RTE.

On Second Stage, I mentioned an excellent chapter, namely, "The Discordant Drum" from Jiving at the Crossroads by John Waters. It discusses how people were preached at by a Dublin 4 elite for many years on a range of issues. If one does not see the problem, one does not see the point of this amendment. I ask the Minister to consult widely on this issue prior to Report Stage. There is a strong feeling among many decent members of society that we have not had balanced treatment of certain issues.

What is missing from the Bill is the word "balanced" and, interestingly, this is the word cited by RTE where it states it is not required to be balanced. We should not prescribe every detail of this in legislation. However, we could consider having a body which would have the right to examine the matter if a complaint is made. For example, it would be good if an independent body could consider a complaint made with regard to coverage of stem cell research and have the right to examine six months' coverage of the issue by RTE and make a judgment on whether all sides of the argument were properly respected. If they were not properly respected, it should be within the remit of such an independent body to levy a fine.

My amendment does not provide that every programme must be balanced, rather it provides that all news broadcasts by a broadcaster be presented in a balanced manner and, more generally, that broadcast treatment of current affairs be balanced. It is a carefully worded amendment and with great respect to the Minister I do not believe I heard a good reason from him for not including the word "balanced".

Prior to Report Stage, will the Minister come up with something new, innovative and reforming to reassure many Irish people that their most cherished values are not treated with contempt in RTE or journalism generally but that stringent requirements exist for honourable treatment of sensitive social issues with the possibility of penalties where such honourable treatment is not forthcoming? It is not a lot to ask. It promotes harmony in society when one tries to ensure with a slightly heavier touch than has been the case heretofore that there is fair treatment of various legitimate points of view on sensitive social issues.