Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

As I said earlier when I rambled from group 3 to group 4, sustaining independent and impartial journalism is an important point. Politics needs a free press; it is important that it is open to scrutiny and criticism. However, people plying certain personal agendas brings the entire system into disrepute. There is a little of that taking place at present. The problem is that if it goes unchecked, the tendency in society is to gravitate to the lowest common denominator. I have genuine concerns in that regard. How to deal with that without at the same time interfering with the necessity for freedom of the press to comment is the challenge. We have seen examples, some of which have ended up in court but most of which have not, where there is a real tendency in this regard. I do not know if it is due to competition but it was felt, in recent years, that perhaps competition from English tabloids was driving it, and it probably was. The downturn in the economy is exacerbating the situation. We should collectively consider how we can ensure that the necessity for freedom of speech and the enhancement it brings to our democratic processes do not undermine the overall intention, and how we can ensure that it is both independent and impartial. I have no ready-made sparks of wisdom that can direct us how to do that but we should certainly examine it. The BAI has a role to play. I do not believe that is a reactionary force. I imagine that people in such positions are probably reasonably well paid. It should not be beyond them to consider monitoring this, perhaps on an ad hoc or spot basis, and forming their own independent views without waiting for people to complain. In general, people do not complain but shrug their shoulders and carry on.

The second point I wish to raise in that regard is the objective to sustain compliance with applicable employment law. I wonder why we would place an onus on a broadcasting authority to enter an area which usually is regulated between the employer and employees. There may be an employees' union. Concerning foreign direct investment coming into Ireland, some of which has union representation although most has not, there has been a very good enlightened approach to industrial relations and to the application of employment law. I wonder, therefore, why this step is necessary. A number of other agencies, such as the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA, and the Health and Safety Authority, have become very proactive in this area since the onset of the recession, far more so than they were in the good times. I raise that question.

I agree with the other inclusions, such as protection of the interests of children, the vulnerability of children to undue commercial exploitation and also the measure to stimulate Irish language programming. I believe we all subscribe to this.