Vol. 412 No. 7
7 Mr. McCartan asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he plans to take any steps to control advertising of children's toys, especially in the run up to Christmas, in view of the intense pressure that this can place on low income families; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Legislative controls in relation to advertising are contained in: the Consumer Information Act, 1978; the Misleading Advertising Regulations, 1988; and the Broadcasting Act, 1990. The Consumer Information Act and the Misleading Advertising Regulations prohibit advertising which is false or misleading.
Under the Broadcasting Act, 1990, the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications will issue shortly a statutory code which will include advertising standards for broadcasting. This code will contain guidelines on the broadcasting of advertising which is directed towards children. This will supersede the RTE Authority's current code of standards for broadcast advertising. In addition to these controls all advertising in Ireland is subject to a voluntary code of advertising standards promoted by the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland (ASAI). This code lays down guidelines for advertising in so far as it relates to children.
Does the Minister agree that the existing voluntary code is completely inadequate to cope with the saturation children-directed advertising which we experience around this time of year? Does he accept that in a country where more than 250,000 people are unemployed and a great many people are on low incomes, this saturation advertising effectively turns the festive season into a season of misery for the many families struggling to make ends meet.
I agree that the voluntary code is not much use and that is why I welcome the fact that my colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications will very shortly publish and bring into effect a statutory code in so far as television advertising is concerned. I think most of the damage and heartache of the type to which the Deputy refers is caused by advertising on television rather than in any other medium. I agree with him that it must be very distressing for a great many families with young children to see the form of advertising that goes on television, and I look forward to the statutory code curbing the worst excesses of that to a considerable extent.
I welcome the Minister's response to Deputy Rabbitte's question. However, in the absence of the introduction of that statutory code between now and Christmas, would he request his colleague, the Minister for Tourism, Transport and Communications, to issue a public request to the various bodies to observe the voluntary code in spirit?
As I have said, I think most of the damage is done by television advertising. The RTE Authority is a public body and I appeal to them now not to limit or control the amount of advertising — I am not asking them to do that — but to limit and control the content and tone of advertising between now and Christmas. I hope they will co-operate.
