Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

I move amendment No. 85a:

In page 86, subsection (1), between lines 35 and 35, to insert the following:

"(m) sport,"

Some of these amendments relate to the recognition that must be included in the Bill in respect of domestic sports coverage. I wish to ensure that domestic sport is afforded its rightful place in television and radio broadcasts. A domestic sporting event such as track racing, GAA or soccer might be taking place on any given day but the first item on the sports news will probably relate to the Champions League or the FA Cup. I am seeking to ensure that a balance will be struck in respect of domestic sport. Thousands of people have made great efforts — in many instances, on a voluntary basis — to develop domestic sports to the levels they have reached and the national broadcaster should give these sports the coverage they rightly deserve.

Amendment No. 85a seeks to deal with the criteria relating to membership of the board. Section 82 states that a people to be appointed to the board should have experience or show a capacity in respect of one or more of the matters listed, which include business or commercial affairs; trade union affairs; digital media technologies; arts, music and culture; science, technology or environmental matters; legal or regulatory affairs; and social, educational or community activities. I would not want to remove any of these from the list of criteria because they are all laudable. However, the amendment seeks to include a knowledge or experience of or a capacity in respect of sport as one of the criteria governing suitability to serve as a member of the board.

Amendment No. 86b relates to the duties of members of the board. The proposed new paragraph (e) contained in this amendment would "ensure that the corporation fulfils its commitment with regard to programme content reflecting the promotion of Irish language and culture, including domestic sport". The amendment would also strengthen aspects of the Bill relating to the concept of domestic sport. However, similar to amendments tabled by Senator O'Toole, it will further strengthen the Bill in the context of the Irish language and culture.

Amendment No. 88a relates to the audience council for which section 96 makes provision. It states:

(5) In appointing the members of its audience council a corporation shall endeavour to ensure that the audience council includes persons representative of cultural organisations including those devoted to the promotion of Irish music and domestic sport.

The amendment is designed to ensure that the audience council will encompass balanced and diverse views and that its members will include those who represent the organisations to which the proposed new subsection (5) refers. This would not give rise to a financial constraint. The intention behind the amendment is that due regard be given to our culture and domestic sport.

I hope the Minister of State will take these amendments seriously. Amendment No. 90a relates to section 101. This is a good Bill but as the Minister of State indicated not every item of legislation is perfect. Even if all the amendments tabled in respect of the Bill were accepted, it would still not be perfect and we would probably be obliged to return to it. However, there is a need to make specific provision in respect of the Irish language. Such a provision is not made at present in section 101, which relates to the public service broadcasting charter and refers to the nature and hours of children's television and science and technology programming to be broadcast, the number of magazines and books to be prepared and the recorded audio material to be compiled, published and distributed in pursuance of the corporation's public service objects. However, it does not refer to Irish language broadcasting.

There is a need to include two new paragraphs in section 101, namely:

(e) the nature and number of hours devoted to Irish culture including sport,

(f) the nature and number of hours devoted to the Irish language.

This matter is important and not only to those who speak Irish or people who live in Gaeltacht areas. One of the objectives of every political party on this island is the restoration of our national language. The Irish language belongs to all of us. Any steps we can take, small or large, to support the language should be taken. The amendment does not compel RTE to do anything and it does not state that 90% of broadcasting content should be in Irish. However, it suggests that regard should be had to the language in the context of the charter. I ask the Minister of State to consider the amendment.

There are two other amendments which have been grouped together. Amendment No. 96a deals with section 114. It seeks to provide that RTE ensures Irish communities abroad have access to digital and radio wireless broadcasts of domestic sporting events. I will not rehash the debate which has just taken place because everybody has articulated very eloquently the need to ensure we have a service to our emigrants abroad. People continue to tune into sport and they want to know how their local teams are doing, whether in the championship or in the league. It could also be the local soccer team.

The Bill indicates that, in so far as possible, RTE will provide services to emigrants abroad. There is a need to strengthen this by including a provision to ensure Irish communities abroad have access to digital and radio wireless broadcasts of domestic sporting events as a starting point.

The final amendment in this group relates to section 154 and deals with the broadcasting funding scheme. It seeks to include a new subsection that would give priority to domestic sport, along with the other subsections. I ask the Minister to consider those amendments.