Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 15:

In page 19, to delete lines 8 and 9 and substitute the following: “(iii) their diversity of traditions and identities, including religious, ethical, cultural, linguistic and gender diversity, and”.

The amendment is very similar to amendment No. 14 and, therefore, I do not intend to speak on it at any great length.

On amendment No. 17, the Bill's commitment to access for people with disabilities is commendable. Sinn Féin supports the provision entirely but would like to see it go further. True inclusivity requires that access is available not only to participate as a passive audience in terms of media content but that the experiences of people with disabilities are adequately, and appropriately, reflected in that content and that people with disabilities are on screen and are at the heart of producing what is on screen not just watching from home.

According to Census 2016, one in seven of the population has a disability, yet that is not reflected in what we see on television. A new coimisiún na meán should monitor that and put measures in place to ensure proper representation for people with disabilities. We still have a long way to go towards delivering on the recommendations of A Strategy for Equality 1996 within the Report of the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities, which called for steps to be taken to end the isolation and stereotyping of people with disabilities in the media, including to "look at ways in which people with disabilities can be made more visible on television both as presenters and participants". This Bill is a chance to put that aspiration into law and task coimisiún na meán with its delivery.