Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senators for proposing these important amendments. The coverage by broadcasters of our democratic process, particularly during electoral periods, can have a profound impact on the outcome of the process. That is why broadcasting legislation has for many years sought to ensure fairness, objectivity and impartiality in both news coverage and the coverage of elections. This Bill will extend those provisions to the video-on-demand services, reflecting the changing way in which citizens access new media.

As regards amendment No. 104, the party-political broadcast has played an important role in the democratic process by allowing political parties uncontested airtime to carry their message to the public. For that reason, these broadcasts have been exempted from the general prohibition against the broadcasting or making available of advertisements directed towards a political end. It is the intention of the Bill to continue this exemption in respect of party-political broadcasts. However, I acknowledge that the use of the term “party political programmes” in section 9 of the Bill – inserting section 46M(4) into the Broadcasting Act 2009 – rather than “party political broadcasts” may give rise to some interpretive confusion if it is not clarified. The term “party political programmes” was used in lieuof “party political broadcasts” to ensure the section covered both broadcasting services and video-on-demand services that would not be considered to make broadcasts. I have asked my officials to examine this issue with a view to returning to this House on Report Stage. I cannot promise Senators that I will introduce an amendment on Report Stage but I will certainly seek to set out any plans I have to address this issue. Accordingly, I cannot accept amendment No. 104 at this time but acknowledge the matter needs to be scrutinised closely.

Amendments Nos. 31 and 96 also address an issue that goes to the heart of our democratic process, namely, the coverage by broadcasters of political parties and the methodology for determining the allocation of that coverage. Given that the allocation of coverage may play a role in determining the outcome of an election, I acknowledge that this is a contentious and controversial issue. As amendment No. 31 recognises, the BAI, under section 42 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, has issued a code of fairness, objectivity and impartiality in news and current affairs – rule 27 – which deals with the coverage of elections by broadcasters. Under the Bill, this code will continue in force upon the dissolution of the BAI and the establishment of the coimisiún until such time as it is replaced by a media service code, which will apply not only to broadcasters but also to certain video-on-demand services. At present, rule 27 places responsibility on broadcasters to develop mechanisms to fairly allocate coverage during elections rather than being prescriptive. This is in contrast with the current situation in Britain, where Ofcom, as the audiovisual service regulator, issues prescriptive rules to broadcasters.

We have seen a transformation in the political landscape in this country over the past 12 years. I recognise that this is posing a challenge for broadcasters, particularly RTÉ in its role as our largest public service broadcaster, especially regarding the allocation of coverage during elections. Given the complexity of this issue and the difficulty in arriving at a consensus, it is preferable that any common set of requirements for broadcasters in respect of party-political broadcasts or the editorial coverage of elections and referendums be made by the coimisiún through media-service codes rather than through prescription by legislation, as suggested in amendment No. 31, which covers the election period, and amendment No. 96, which focuses on coverage across the board. On that basis, I have asked my officials to further scrutinise the provisions of section 9 of the Bill, with which we insert subsections 46L(1) to (3) and the relevant measure in 46N into the Broadcasting Act to be sure that nothing in the text of the Bill would prevent the coimisiún from setting such a common set of requirements through the media service codes. I intend to request that an coimisiún review the code of fairness, objectivity and impartiality governing news and current affairs with a view to addressing the issue of fairly allocating coverage of political parties in broadcasts and video-on-demand services, particularly during elections. In doing so, I emphasise that under this legislation an coimisiún will make any decisions concerning such codes independently of the Oireachtas and myself as Minister. Similar to the situation with amendment No. 31, although I cannot accept these amendments, I will return to the House on Report Stage to allow us to discuss this matter further.