asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he has yet considered the advisability or otherwise of having Deputies and Senators invited by Radio Éireann to participate in debates and discussions on matters of interest to Ireland; and, if so, if he will state what decision he has reached.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Broadcasts by Oireachtas Members.
The matter has been under consideration for some time. I am glad to say that from now on Radio Éireann will be free to invite Deputies and Senators to take part in broadcasts for which they are specially qualified. These will naturally most often be debates and discussions on matters of topical interest, but there may be occasions when political personalities will be invited to broadcast on non-political topics of which they have special knowledge. I feel the House will agree with me that this new freedom will rid our broadcasting system of an undesirable limitation and enable it to deal more adequately with contemporary affairs. I should emphasise that there is no intention of calling regularly on Deputies as such, but the director will now be free to call on them when they are the most suitable speakers on a particular topic.
Does this represent a reversal of the direction given by theMinister for Posts and Telegraphs some 18 months ago to the effect that no member of Oireachtas Éireann was to be permitted to speak in symposia on Radio Éireann?
The Deputy is putting it the wrong way around. The arrangement made was so that we would have far greater freedom of discussion. I felt that we should have a little experience in greater freedom of discussion before we added the additional normal facility available in every western democracy of including Deputies and Senators in discussions.
May I recall the Minister's attention to the fact that on one occasion myself and Senator Yeats partook in a symposium on Radio Éireann which was followed in 24 hours by an injunction from the Minister not to have that fellow again.
Deputies
Which fellow?
Can the Minister decide whether Deputies are specially qualified to broadcast in any particular matter?
I think I have already made it clear that in this matter here, as in other democratic countries, it has been found that the Director must be given discretion so far as debates and discussions are concerned, in contrast with any question, for example, of Party political broadcasts, the reason being that there are Deputies who are excellent speakers on the platform, excellent speakers in the House, and who fail, either in the radio-phonic sense or who are simply not apt for debates over the radio. In every country it is found that the Director must be given discretion. He will exercise a reasonable balance in his attitude towards the various Parties, and I have perfect confidence that there will be the same success in this new venture as there has been during the last nine months and, indeed, the year before that in regard to the greater freedom of discussion during debates.
In view of the suggestion that this removes a limitationwhich already existed in Radio Éireann, would the Minister say what limitation that was, when it was imposed and for what reason?
The limitation was in connection with the general restriction that was inevitable in the case of Radio Éireann because it was a service directly dependent from day to day on the authority of the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, which limited very severely discussions of all kinds— so much so that some years ago we would have complaints made that a Department of State would have been criticised by a speaker in the course of an address and the suggestion was made that that was not right, and so forth. I have indicated all these matters on the occasion of the Estimates. It is a general change that has been made with a view to having greater freedom in Radio Éireann.
Will the Minister say whether it was by the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs that these restrictions were imposed in the past and whether the restriction was that a Deputy or Senator was not to be allowed to broadcast?
I could not give the Deputy the precise history of whether Ministers specifically gave instructions.
You gave an instruction.
The general restriction on discussions in Radio Eireann grew out of the system under which it was administered and I do not think anybody had a deliberate intention of making restrictions. They simply grew out of the nature of the administration.
You gave an express instruction.
Will the Minister say if the Director will refuse to allow Deputies to broadcast because their accents do not suit his particular taste?
That is ridiculous. There is a great variety of accents in this House.
Then we will have freedom?
Some of them would not qualify in pronunciation.