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

This group of amendments is intended to allow coimisiún na meán to make media service codes which promote gender balance on news and current affairs programmes on radio, television and video on-demand services, and to promote the broadcasting of musical works composed or performed by women on radio services. A key goal of mine, as Minister, is to further gender equality within every sector under my remit and to collaborate closely with my Government colleagues to drive change across other key Departments. It is an issue that Senators raised with me and one I had committed to examining and returning to. Young girls cannot aim to be what they cannot see or hear and there needs to be a significant improvement in the ratio of women to men on radio and television, so that both genders feel represented in public discourse, as well as better representation of women in music on our airwaves. Following careful consideration of the compatibility of gender balance measures with the rights to freedom of expression and competition law, it is considered that the most appropriate approach to further this goal is to empower coimisiún na meán to make codes setting out standards and practices in relation to the promotion of greater representation for women in music and news broadcasting. Such codes will be binding on providers of radio, television and video on-demand services and, where breaches occur, such codes could be subject to enforcement action by coimisiún na meán. This approach will allow coimisiún na meán the flexibility to identify appropriate measures to promote gender equality that are consistent with our legal framework.