Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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115. To ask the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on correspondence (details supplied) regarding an RTÉ programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6044/14]

Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)
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RTÉ is an independent national public service broadcaster whose remit and obligations are set out in Section 114 of the Broadcasting Act 2009. Section 98 of the Act provides that the company shall be independent in the pursuance of these objects, subject to the requirements of the Act and as such, I, as Minister, have no function in the management of RTÉ’s day to day affairs, including decisions around programming. Neither do I, as Minister, have a role in dealing with defamation cases made against the corporation.

In terms of rules and procedures governing this matter, section 39 of the 2009 Act provides inter alia that every broadcaster in the State has a statutory obligation to ensure that the broadcast treatment of current affairs, including matters which are either of public controversy or the subject of current public debate, is fair to all interests concerned and that the broadcast matter is presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster’s views. It also provides that anything that could reasonably be expected to cause harm or offence is not broadcast.

In addition, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is obliged under section 42 to prepare codes of conduct to be observed by broadcasters to ensure that standards are maintained and upheld. The Code of Fairness, Objectivity & Impartiality in News and Current Affairs and the Code of Programme Standards are already in place and available on the BAI website. RTÉ is required to adhere to its statutory obligations in this regard and to comply with both the spirit and the letter of the BAI Codes.