Trevor Ó Clochartaigh (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. Is díospóireacht iontach tábhachtach í seo. Ba cheart dom a admháil ag an tús gur chaith mé riar mhiath blianta ag obair in earnáil na meáin idir TG4, RTE agus mar sin de. Bhain mé an-sásamh as an obair sin.

Media is a major factor in shaping the ideas, opinions and debates on political, cultural and civil topics. Therefore, in a democratic society, the ownership of media has an important impact on how debates on issues of national and local importance are framed. In democracies, the source of political legitimacy rests on the citizens and their political choices. Since citizens have many political decisions on the information received from media, the media's role as a source of news and its ability to influence ideas translates into a capacity to shape governance. If media limits information or narrows the breadth of political debates, citizens are precluded from properly exercising their two political powers, and political control is more likely to shift to the hands of a single constituency or a small elite. This not only threatens the integrity of a democracy by limiting informed consent but also undermines the role of citizenry within democratic society.

Since the 1980s, across Europe there has been a move away from public broadcasting towards more private ownership of broadcast media. This has meant that newspaper companies were able to enter the broadcast media arena and create multimedia corporations, and we have seen examples of that here. A number of the larger players in Ireland have turned Ireland into profit centres where some of the bigger players, for example TV3 and 3e, have been bought out. They would be seen as profit centres and the profits from those will leave the country. UPC has been bought up and rebranded as Virgin Media. UTV Ireland was set up and we can see that that might be sold off in the future as well. It is all part of a global picture that we see around media ownership.

The advance of media online and news sources has furthered the reach of many of these media holding groups. In Ireland, in recent times, it appears that one particular player has attempted to gain control of a large portion of the media. As a result, it is clear that changes must be instituted to how media mergers are handled by Government. The current situation regarding media control in Ireland will remain the same because these new guidelines will not be applied retrospectively. Only mergers that are considered in the future will be under new scrutiny.

It is essential that Ireland has a diverse media. A diverse media should not be only defined as a variety of entertainments in a commercial media market but should also encourage political and civil discourse and the exchange of ideas. A free and open media requires that as many diverse voices as possible be heard and that areas such as the Irish language, gender representation and ethnic and religion minorities should be allowed adequate space in the media market.

It is important that we commend our national broadcaster, RTE, on the work that it does and the high quality that is broadcast to the Irish public. Caithfimid bheith cúramach freisin ó thaobh an ról atá ag RTE. An bhfuil an Rialtas chun stiúir a thabhairt dóibh le bheith mar chraoltóir náisiúnta, nó an bhfuil an Rialtas díreach ag féachaint ar an lucht féachana atá acu agus mar sin de? Is RTE only to be seen as a competitive profit-making entity or are we also going to look at the high quality of the programmes that it provides and the public service remit that it has? It has had some fantastic programmes over the years and recently its coverage of the GAA championship, its news and current affairs shows and dramas such as "Love/Hate" stand on an international stage. However, as RTE receives a substantial level of funding from the licence fee, it is not unreasonable for the Government to ensure that the public receives value for money from its broadcasts. High quality broadcasting should be seen as a priority and this is the direction that RTE should point itself in the future.

Maidir le cúrsaí Gaeilge, tá sé luaite cheana féin go bhfuil sár-jab amach is amach déanta ag TG4 ó thaobh cur chun cinn na Gaeilge le riar beag blianta anuas. Sílim go bhfuil éad ar chuid mhaith craoltóirí eile, ní hamháin anseo go náisiúnta ach go hidirnáisiúnta freisin, ar an gcaighdéan ard atá bainte amach ag TG4. Tá sé fíorthábhachtach aitheantas a thabhairt don ról sin agus don obair sin. Tá sé suntasach go bhfuil gearradh siar déanta ar an maoiniú do lucht TG4 in ainneoin cé chomh maith agus atá ag éirí leo agus cé chomh feiceálach agus chomh tarraingteach don Ghaeilge atá siad. Tá daoine ann a déarfadh gurb é an rud is fearr a tharla do chúrsaí Ghaeilge le blianta fada anuas ná bunú TG4. Is deacair dul ag troid leis sin. Nuair atá an Rialtas ag ullmhú do chomóradh an chéid 1916, caithfidh said breathnú ar an tábhacht a fheiceann siad leis an craoltóireacht Gaeilge inár féiniúlacht mar shochaí agus mar Phoblacht. Ar chóir don Rialtas, dá bhrí sin, tuilleadh tacaíochta a thabhairt do leithéidí TG4 mar gheall ar an ngean atá i measc an phobail orthu?

Ba mhaith liom rud eile a lua ó thaobh na craoltóireachta Gaeilge de. Tá an ciste craoltóireachta Gaeilge i dTuaisceart Éireann tar éis an-tacaíocht a thabhairt don earnáil físe ó Thuaidh. Tá TG4 ag baint buntáiste as sin freisin. Ba chóir don Rialtas níos mó brú a chur ar Rialtas na Breataine le cinntiú go bhfanfaidh an ciste tacaíochta sin ann. Tá an ciste iontach tábhachtach seo mar chuid de Chomhaontú Aoine an Chéasta.

Ní dóigh liom go raibh Raidió na Gaeltachta luaite beag ná mór go dtí seo. Silim go ndéantar beag is fiú den ról atá ag Raidió na Gaeltachta, i ndáiríre. Tá caighdeán idirnáisiúnta bainte amach ag na cláracha den chéad scoth, cláracha cúrsaí reatha ina measc, atá curtha le chéile ag Raidió na Gaeltachta ar mhaoiniú an-bheag. Ba mhaith liom ceist a chur ar an Aire agus an Aire Stáit ó thaobh an tsoláthair airgid atá ag Raidió na Gaeltachta. An dóigh leo go bhfuil dóthain maoinithe á fháil acu le leanacht leis an ardchaighdeán atá ann? An mbeadh sé i gceist acu go n-ardófaí an méid airgid a bhíonn ar fáil?