asked the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs if he will indicate the statutory or other authority under which the Director of Broadcasting is independent in the exercise of his functions.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Director of Broadcasting.
I should mention at first that the Director of Broadcasting is not independent in the exercise of his functions. He has over him a comhairle who direct matters of immediate policy and give the director guidance on important matters that arise from day to day; the Minister continues to deal with wider policy for which Government everywhere must accept responsibility.
The statutory position of broadcasting has not been changed by the recent reorganisation. What did take place, as I explained to the House in introducing the reorganisation, was that a comhairle of independent persons was appointed to control the service under the Minister and a director of very wide experience was engaged to conduct the normal operations. Concurrently with this, the Minister undertook to restrict himself to larger policy for which the Government must be responsible.
One of my main objectives was to create within Radio Eireann the atmosphere of an entertainment organisation. This involves immediate day to day flexibility of operation. There is no hope of maintaining such a system unless I as Minister without any statutory Order make a personal decision for which I am ultimatelyanswerable to the House to delegate authority to the comhairle and director to make decisions without my interference.
The reorganisation with the freedom given to the broadcasting authorities was approved and warmly welcomed by the House on two successive occasions. One of the gratifying features of the last Estimate debate was the complete absence of any criticism unanimously voiced by the Opposition let alone the House as a whole, while every Deputy but one praised the station in one or other particular. All the criticism was conflicting. If, however, we continue to have questions in the House about individual programmes, the suitability of an announcer's voice and whether this or that item of news should have been inserted or omitted, the Minister will again be drawn into everyday broadcasting affairs, and the inevitable trend will be for broadcasting to be brought into the political arena. I am sure the Deputy and the House would not wish that to happen. We only ask for a fair chance for broadcasting to operate under its new and rather unique set-up among broadcasting organisations. Of course, if Deputies wish to put down questions at any time about broadcasting policy, the Minister will be glad to answer them.
This is an abuse of the privilege of a parliamentary reply, a sermon by the Minister.
Am I to understand from the Minister's reply that he is threatening the members of the House that if they do not keep quiet he will withdraw the privilege of members of either House of the Oireachtas to be allowed to broadcast from Radio Éireann in the same way as, apparently, they were prevented before?
I said nothing of the kind.
Is this a threat?
I said it was an experiment.
You read so much that we do not know what you said.
Do I gather from what the Minister said that, despite his assertion, the fact is that the director and the comhairle are not independent, that the Minister has full responsibility through which he may be queried in the House on any matter concerning administration or direction to the broadcasting service?
I can be queried on any matter, but the Deputy will remember that in his own speech on the Estimate he suggested that possibly, in the lack of experience, I had not gone far enough, that it might be simpler to have a broadcasting corporation.
If that were so, it would be a statutory corporation. The Minister asserts there is independence in the matter, but there is a right to interfere.
Will the Minister tell us what he means when he said that he undertook to restrict himself?
Any Minister, in the exercise of his power, can voluntarily himself undertake to leave a wide measure of freedom to the officers under him.
That is not the question. I asked what the Minister meant when he said in his reply that it could be said that he undertook to restrict himself. What does he mean by that, or to whom did he give the undertaking?
I decided that I would give a wide measure of delegation myself personally without statutory authority to the comhairle and the director of Radio Éireann to carry out the operation of broadcasting from day to day.
Was it in accordance with that undertaking that the Minister advised Deputies to write direct to the director and not to him?
As a matter of fact, as I have explained, the repetition of questions on matters of detail, wheremembers of the House reveal that there are differences of opinion, has the effect of creating a political atmosphere within Radio Éireann. I might add for the Deputy's benefit that even before the reorganisation took place it was the custom, under the previous Government and the Government before that, as far as possible to ask Deputies to refrain from asking questions on very small detailed matters in connection with the programme which would have the effect of making the organisation feel that they were under day-to-day political influence.
The Minister will hardly suggest that general administration as to whether the director is independent or not is a question of detail.
I take it that the Minister is fully aware that he has no power to give any undertaking in any way to limit or restrict his own responsibility in regard to this matter?
Is it not perfectly clear that the sole purpose of the Minister's answer is to make it clear that if there is anything good he will take the praise, and if there is anything bad he will not stand the blame himself but will shelter behind the council?
Fine Gael technique.