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

Again, I understand the intention behind this amendment and take the point that it can be very troubling for people living on the island of Ireland, be they Irish citizens or not, to watch their public service broadcasters and seeing their part of the island of Ireland effectively blacked out or removed. However, I would be concerned about accepting an amendment that would be so prescriptive as to what RTÉ and TG4 could or could not display. Under section 98 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, both public service broadcasters are required to be independent in their day-to-day operations, which includes editorial independence as regards programming content. The purpose of this independence is to prevent political interference in the operation of RTÉ and TG4. Prescribing the format or content of any programming in such a detailed manner, including how data is presented, no matter how well-intentioned, would run contrary to the principle of editorial independence and I do not think it is appropriate for us as legislators to determine the type of content that should be displayed so specifically.

While this amendment is clearly seeking to prevent the recurrence of something that offended and hurt many people, it could set a wider precedent for the regulation of very specific types of content in primary legislation. As that is something we should seek to avoid in principle, I cannot accept the amendment.