Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It may be that, so far as political parties are concerned, the 50:50 rule creates a perverse political incentive to oppose constitutional amendments, given the almost guaranteed access to the airwaves that will follow. However, when it comes to a small and unrepresentative interest group, I am not sure that the same considerations would apply. If the same handful of individuals are seen and heard on every news and current affairs programme in the run-up to the vote, it may simply serve to demonstrate just how small and unrepresentative a group they really are.

I wondered aloud in the Dáil last week whether, in terms of public discourse on such a fundamentally important issue as marriage equality, we will have been damaged by the recent controversy in the medium and longer terms. It seems that this far out from the referendum, it may be no harm at all that these issues have been ventilated now. RTE has a crucial role in the conduct of public debate and remains fully committed to ensuring the full and free exchange of information and opinion on all matters of legitimate public interest. I stand by my position on drawing a distinction between my intruding in the management of any particular litigation file and my insisting that RTE in no way resiles from its obligation to discharge its public service duties under the Broadcasting Act. That is the critical factor as we prepare to put the building blocks in place for the ultimate referendum. Senator Ó Clochartaigh is not seriously asking me to intervene. Were I to do so in every litigation file or editorial decision of RTE, he and all those excellent young social science graduates from UCD writing scripts for the Sinn Féin Party would be after my garters.