As I was saying last night, the wording of this motion calls on the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs in very specific and absolute terms to intervene in the programme making process of RTE. There can be no other interpretation because however you analyse, dissect or parse the wording of Deputy Leyden's motion that is what it means. Yet Deputy Leyden in the Dáil last night devoted practically all his speech to criticising my appointment because I might intervene. Here we have the Dáil debating a motion calling for intervention and we have the Fianna Fáil spokesman on Posts and Telegraphs, Deputy Leyden, boasting to the Dáil that once or twice since his appointment to the Front Bench he has intervened. Then he goes on to criticise my appointment because I might intervene. He uses as the basis of his argument my professional association in the past with RTE and my knowledge of that general area.
I am surprised to find that knowledge of any subject is described by Deputy Leyden as a reason why one should not be appointed in that area. This is a time of great chance in broadcasting and wireless telegraphy, the responsibilities which I have. It is the most exciting and the time of greatest change in the last 21 years since our television station came on the air. We have the necessary legislation to set up local radio and we must, simultaneously, end the pirate stations. We have direct satellite broadcasting which has enormous and exciting potential for information-based industries here. We also have massive new developments in cable television. These are the reasons which motivated the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, Deputy Mitchell, to seek the assistance of a Minister of State. He cannot do it himself but he has the authority of the Taoiseach to do so. To say that a person with certain specific qualifications should be ruled out is ridiculous. One might as well say that an architect should not have any responsibility for the planning of a housing estate because he knew something about it, or to suggest that Deputy Andrews could not be a Minister or a Minister of State at the Department of Posts and Telegraphs because he has excellent specific knowledge of the area of broadcasting.
With regard to interference, I believe that whatever knowledge I have acquired in this area, through my service in RTE, is a very good reason why I would be the last Deputy, with the possible exception of Deputy Niall Andrews, who also served in RTE, to attempt to interfere with programme making. There are Deputies on all sides of the House who get a sudden rush of blood to the head about RTE programmes. They believe there are presenters and producers there who spend their time plotting how they can help one party and demolish another party. This judgment is often made after seeing one programme or even a bit of a programme. The fact remains that anyone who has worked in RTE knows that the preoccupation of the presenters and producers is trying to devise the best possible television and radio programmes with constant and total unremitting regard to their obligations of objectivity and impartiality. They have done a very good job.
Deputy Leyden, as the basis for this motion, or perhaps as the excuse for it, has mentioned two programmes recently where there was no appearance by Fianna Fáil. It is not a total bonus to appear on your own. Perhaps it is if your material is good and if you have good presentation but it can also be an unmitigated disaster where your votes can evaporate through the microphone.
I do not know why RTE did not have a Fianna Fáil representative on those programmes and I am not going to inquire because that is not my duty. Nor would I inquire either if Deputy Leyden started popping up all over the place making as many appearances as Charles Mitchel. I would not inquire because I have the utmost confidence in RTE to carry out their obligations in an objective and impartial manner. I have confidence because of the constitution of the Authority and the excellent, distinguished people who are there but, mostly, because of the track record of RTE. We have, as the Deputy knows, an official Broadcasting Complaints Commission set up in March 1977 and in all that time only 14 complaints were brought to this commission set up specifically and staffed for that purpose. This is an excellent commission. I have the honour of knowing one member, a very good friend of mine and a very distinguished public relations officer, Mr. Eoin Patton, and I know the value of the commission. In 12 of the 14 cases the commission found that the complaints were not justified. In only two cases did the commission find against RTE. One referred to the inclusion in the "Gay Byrne Hour" of grocery prices in supermarket chains and the other dealt with television coverage of a record produced by a commercial recording company on the Papal visit. In five years, the commission found against RTE in only two instances. That is not bad considering that the five years were probably the most volatile in politics in the recent history of the State.