Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)
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Question 77: To ask the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources further to recent comments by the European Commissioner for Media, Ms Viviane Reding, that the regulation of transnational satellite broadcasters should be addressed by Member States acting on a bilateral amicable basis and her further comments that the codification of the European Court of Justice case law in this area would allow Member States to take measures against an audiovisual media service provider established in another Member State that directs for fraudulent purposes all or most of its activity to this Member State, the measures he intends to take to insure that satellite broadcasters who are inserting local advertising into their main programme schedule can be subject to regulations set by the State on such advertising. [20774/06]

Noel Dempsey (Meath, Fianna Fail)
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I am aware of the useful comments made by the Commissioner and her recognition of the concerns of a substantial number of Member States on this issue. While I appreciate there is scope for some resolution of the issue through the recommendations of the Commissioner, my objective is to ensure that the Regulatory Framework at EU level provides a formal basis for national measures to have meaningful reach.

The key issue concerns jurisdiction over broadcasters along with the application of national rules. Throughout the Commission's consultation over the past two years and at a recent Council meeting, Ireland, along with a number of other Member States, has consistently argued for a fundamental shift in the approach to determining which Member State's national rules should apply to any given broadcasting service. We have argued that, in the case of a television channel that primarily targets Ireland, it is Ireland's national measures that should apply to that channel. Each broadcasting service should only be subject to one set of national rules but in my view it makes sense that the one set of rules that should apply to any broadcasting service, should be the broadcasting standards of the Member State that is primarily targeted by that service.

Ireland will continue to work with other Member States and the Commission, with a view to progressing consideration of the proposed revised Directive. The approach agreed in relation to jurisdiction will impact on Ireland's position on other elements of the proposal.