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

Amendments Nos. 133 and 134 would have the effect of obliging the commission to prepare a report on the operation of the media service rules made under section 46O(5) of the Broadcasting Act, as amended by the Bill, on an annual basis. The requirement for review every three years, as proposed in the Bill, gives effect to Article 7.2 of the audiovisual media services directive. As the current timelines in the Bill reflect the requirements of the directive, I will not be accepting this amendment.

Amendment No. 135 would have the effect of specifying that an coimisiún should make a draft media code or rule available both online and in a public place. I do not agree with inserting the proposed level of detail into the Bill and, accordingly, do not propose to accept the amendment.

Amendments Nos. 136 and 137 both require that the period in which a person may make a submission to an coimisiún regarding a draft media service code or rule shall be a minimum of 30 days. The Bill, as initiated, provides that the period shall be as specified by an coimisiún. I do not think that circumstances would arise where an coimisiún would run a public consultation process with a very constrained time period for responses. Accordingly, I do not accept the amendment.

Amendment No. 138 requires that a notice issued by an coimisiún setting out that availability of a draft media service code or rule for inspection and public consultation period shall be published at least four weeks prior to the public consultation period commencing. I do not see the merit in providing for a period of four weeks in legislation. It would be more usual for a public body to give notice that a public consultation was commencing, rather than that a public consultation would commence in a specified period. Accordingly, I do not accept the amendment.