Vol. 224 No. 8
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries what communication he had with (a) the News Division authorities, (b) the Director General and (c) the Controller of Programmes at Radio Telefís Éireann on Thursday, 29th September, 1966 following which a statement by the National Farmers' Association was deleted from television and radio news bulletins.
69.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries whether during any of the years 1962 to 1965 and the period 1st January, 1966 to 30th September, 1966 he made suggestions to the authorities at Radio Telefís Éireann following which news items were changed or deleted; if so, the number of occasions, and the reasons for his actions on all such occasions.
70.
asked the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries whether during any of the years from 1962 to 1965 and the period 1st January, 1966 to 30th September, 1966 he suggested to Radio or Telefís Éireann that certain individuals be not allowed to broadcast; if so, the number of occasions, and the reasons for his actions on all such occasions.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take Questions Nos. 68 to 70 together.
Regarding Questions Nos. 69 and 70, I would refer the Deputy to the reply given by the Taoiseach to similar Dáil questions.
As regards Question No. 68, on the date in question I telephoned the Radio Telefís Éireann News Division to protest about the manner in which a statement of mine and a contradictory statement from a farmers' organisation were presented in juxtaposition on the 9.45 p.m. television news bulletin. In my statement, made in Dáil Éireann in reply to questions from Deputies, I specifically advised farmers to hold on to their cattle, where possible, until prices improved. This advice was given by me on the basis of an objective appraisal of the situation and with the best interests of the farmers and of the nation in mind. It was accepted by the House. For the RTE News Division to confront this advice with a contradiction from an organisation representing a section of farmers could, in my opinion, only serve to make perplexed farmers more perplexed. I pointed this out to the News Division. I did not ask that the other statement be deleted from television or radio news bulletins.
Does the Minister for Agriculture claim that no outside body has the right to comment on radio or television on statements made by Ministers in this House?
I made no such claim.
Why did the Minister make the statement?
Because I thought there was a very important fundamental national interest involved in this matter. A Deputy from Deputy Tully's Party asked my here in all sincerity and with genuine interest for my advice on this matter. I gave that advice here in this House and no Deputy questioned it.
I disagreed with it but I was not reported.
No responsible Deputy——
Is that remark in order?
The Minister gave the same kind of reply to Deputy O'Hara on the same day. If the Minister cannot be good-tempered in giving it, he might as well not give it at all.
Will Deputies allow the Minister to conclude his statement?
In response to questions from Deputies which I believe were asked for the purpose of genuinely informing the farmers of the situation. I gave my advice in this regard. My recollection, at any rate, is that no Deputy challenged that advice. It was accepted by the House, and I think it was a very unwise thing to say the least of it, for Radio Telefís Éireann to follow that solemn advice of mine given as Minister for Agriculture with a contradiction by one organisation. I pointed this out to the News Room of Telefís Éireann and I think I was absolutely right in doing so.
Does the Minister not recall that he said on that occasion that the advice was his personal opinion? Are we to take it that any Minister who expresses a personal opinion in this House has the right to challenge anybody else who comments on that outside this House?
The Deputy is just being silly.
Does the Minister not recollect that last January he made a somewhat similar statement in this House — and indeed his friends on those benches heard him—and it all proved wrong?
Whether or not the advice I gave from time to time to the farmers is subsequently proved wrong is one matter, but when I give that advice with all the authority of my office as Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries, that advice should be respected by the national television network.
The Minister is sacrosanct.
I am not.
The Minister has stated in the reply which he read out that the advice he gave was fundamental and important in the national interest. I want to suggest to the Minister, and to ask him if he would agree with me, that it is equally important and equally fundamental in the national interest that no political Party, whether they be represented by a Minister or anyone else, should interfere or intervene in the presentation of news from Telefís Éireann.
In the first place, I rebut any suggestion that I interfered or intervened. I lodged, as I felt perfectly entitled to do, a protest——
It is a question of definition.
——at this treatment of my advice and if Deputy O'Higgins wants to get censorious about this matter, I suggest that he keep his advice for his own colleagues.
This is news censorship of a certain type.
Deputy Cosgrave has a personal friendship which he never hesitates to avail of.
That allegation is entirely unwarranted. I would be glad if the Minister would prove it. Will the Minister prove the allegation?
You live in the place.
Prove it. Come on and prove the allegation—this type of smear campaign by an ambitious Minister. Prove that allegation.
What about "The Hurlers on the Ditch"?
I am prepared to accept proof if it is produced. Produce the proof.
Mr. Haughey rose.
Sit down.
Is the Minister answering a question?
On a point of order, is it in order for the Minister to imply that a Deputy is irresponsible?
That is not a point of order. The Deputy has risen on a point of order. He will resume his seat now.
Arising out of the Minister's reply, when he states that the House accepted his advice, is the Minister really serious? Could he give us an alternative to the advice he gave to the farmers?
Ask The Farmers Journal.
The Minister is not Taoiseach yet.
Is the Minister for Agriculture and Fisheries really serious when he says the farmers should hold their cattle? What else could they do with them? I have a son who is just starting at the national school who could give them better advice than that.
