Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will speak to amendment No. 96, which reflects some concerns. It is slightly different from the other amendments, which speak to a determination of time for party political broadcasts. This speaks to the allocation of time for political programmes by public sector broadcasters. Some programmes are particularly balanced and have a Government and an Opposition representative. As the Minister will be aware, on an increasing number of programmes on RTÉ a Government representative has to face up to three Opposition representatives. The amendment calls for greater regard to be had to the levels of political representation of the respective political parties. As an example, I will take the previous 12 broadcasts of "The Week in Politics" that have run since 5 December.In those broadcasts, there have been 12 representatives from Sinn Féin, five from Fianna Fáil, five from Fine Gael, two from the Green Party, four from the Labour Party, four from the Social Democrats, two from Aontú, which has one representative in these Houses, and two from People Before Profit. Three Independents have all appeared twice, and there have been two other Independents. The proposal behind this amendment is that there is a requirement on the broadcaster to have regard to the size of political parties. There are, as we know, differences between the political parties in government on certain issues, and it is important that different political parties get the opportunity to express those differences. It is a matter of ensuring that in making decisions on the make-up of panels on programmes, there is an appropriate balance that has regard to the size of the political parties. There is a view among the Government parties that it is completely unfair if panels regularly comprise just one Government representative who must face up to three Opposition representatives. It is often the case that a Government representative is asked to account for differences between the political parties in government and to state whether it represents a crisis, yet differences between various Opposition parties are not pointed out. Amendment No. 96 simply requires that regard be had to the size of political parties or groupings within the Oireachtas, or to their performance in the previous election, when decisions are being made regarding the composition of panels.

It should be said that many programmes are very balanced, with one Government representative and one Opposition representative. However, it is often the case that more representation is given to people who deny climate change, for instance, than political parties who argue in favour of accepting there is climate change. It is important, therefore, that we get the balance right.