Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome to the Chamber. I am a huge believer in and defender of public service broadcasting, and in general I am supportive of what RTE does in that regard. I would be critical of it in my remarks purely because I have such high expectations for the standard of broadcasting RTE gives to this country.

I agree with what Senator Dolan said about diversity because I want to speak to diversity in terms of RTE's programming. I believe RTE needs to take the gender equality issue more seriously.We must address the issue of all-male panels. It is sometimes very difficult to have a handle on how best to promote diversity among presenters of various shows, as the BBC has done. Panel presenters, who are the face of Ireland and RTE, are still predominantly white. This has to be addressed. While it may be challenging to address in terms of various ethnic backgrounds, it is not as challenging to address the gender issue. It is still really unacceptable that a number of panels, be it in political programming or sports programming, are so dominated by men. No matter what a programme is about, having six, seven or even more men discussing it just has to end. I have often been on panels and mentioned that it was an all-male discussion. The researchers often say they did their best. It is not good enough any more to say one did one's best. The practice of having all-male discussions has to be terminated.

The issues of gender equality and having role models in our national broadcaster must be addressed such that young Irish children from diverse backgrounds, be they Irish-Polish, Irish-Nigerian or Irish Traveller, can say, "That person reflects who I am." The national broadcaster should proactively seek presenters who are the face of this country and regularly give opportunities to express viewpoints.

A creeping issue concerning some of our political programming, particularly our flagship programming, is our giving of platforms to people whom I would describe as little more than cartoon racists. I do not understand why flagship political programmes in RTE feel the need, in order to have entertainment value and ignite a row, to give a platform to dangerous people with dangerous viewpoints and no political mandate at all. Sometimes they are shipped in from abroad. These are people whose nastiness and vitriol are likely to have a very damaging effect on Irish society, yet they are given a platform for the purpose of ratings. I do not expect much from other broadcasters but I do expect a lot more from RTE. If "Claire Byrne Live" or the "The Late Late Show" are to give a platform to a cartoon racist, a comic-book racist, we have to call it out. It is not good enough. It may be good for ratings but it is not good for society. The Minister needs to be very clear on that.