Vol. 452 No. 1
7 Miss de Valera asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the number of EU member states who have one supreme broadcasting regulatory body for the entire broadcasting sector, including both the public and private sectors. [7365/95]
The development of general legislative and regulatory structures for broadcasting in EU states reflects each state's history and experience and it is difficult, if not impossible, to make a meaningful comparison between institutions in one State and those in another. In each state one can find institutions with broadly similar functions in the broadcasting field, such as Departments with responsibility for culture, communications, or radio frequency management. There are also broadcasting authorities, licensing authorities and standards authorities which have different relationships with central Government and regional authorities where they exist. In France, for example, I understand that there is a broadcasting regulatory authority — Conseil Superior de l'Audiovisuel — which can be said to be responsible for licensing television and radio stations and which also governs cable and satellite television. However, there is also a Ministry of Culture which has responsibility for broadcasting law.
In contrast, in the UK, apart from the Board of Governors of the BBC there is a separate regulatory authority for private television broadcasters and an authority for private radio operators. There is also a Department of National Heritage which is responsible for developing broadcasting law. These are the arrangements which exist in other jurisdictions and they reflect the history of each individual country.
I thank the Minister for his reply. Is the Minister interested in considering the establishment of the supreme broadcasting regulatory body here? If so, would he consider that the establishment of such a body would be nothing more than another quango, albeit a super quango?
I found the wording of the question exotic. I was asked whether there exists in other EU countries one supreme broadcasting regulatory body, which has a certain resonance. I have not suggested one supreme body for anything but I think the Deputy may be referring to newspaper speculation in relation to future institutional arrangements for the management of broadcasting which will be discussed on the occasion of the publication tomorrow of the Green Paper on Broadcasting. In that sense the future structures will be discussed. There never was a suggestion of one supreme body but the future institutional arrangements and structures can be discussed.
I am amused by the Minister when he said this was an exotic question. If that is so the Minister has not disappointed us in giving an exotic answer. This question refers to one supreme broadcasting regulatory body for the entire broadcasting sector. I referred to the other member states also — not simply for comparison purposes but to ascertain how appropriate such a body is for the whole question of broadcasting. Perhaps the Minister would enlighten the House by giving his personal option as to how broadcasting should be undertaken with regard to any such proposed regulatory body?
I want to be as fair as I can. Unfortunately, it is exactly as I have said. Throughout the European Union member countries reflect their own history and their own institutional arrangements. I gave examples from France and the BBC. In preparing the Green Paper I looked at broadcasting considerations in the European Union and Scandinavian countries but there is no single model available. On the occasion of the publication of the Green Paper on the future of broadcasting a number of issues and choices which have to be faced will be listed in that document. I offered my thinking in favour of some of them. There were also opportunities for professionals, practitioners and other interested parties to offer their views. It would have been wrong to have invented an abstract notion and to have made a broadcasting consideration fit into it. At the end of the day this is Question Time in the Dáil and I am responsible for broadcasting. From that point I depart both in my considerations today and in the Green Paper tomorrow.
A brief question, please Deputy de Valera. I want to make progress on other questions to the Minister and we have a time factor to deal with, 20 minutes only is allowed.
It was because the Minister has specific responsibility for broadcasting that I asked the question. I did not ask it for an academic reply. In view of the suggestions we will read about officially tomorrow — if we have not already done so unofficially — in the Green Paper does he intend to reappoint the RTE Authority and will he allow it to run its full term?
Drawing distinctions between practical and academic answers is not of any value. Any Minister worth his salt with responsibility for broadcasting will draw on all his experience to provide good proposals and the Green Paper will reflect that. The question of the Authority will be dealt with in a later question. Any appointments to the RTE Authority will be made under the existing broadcasting legislation until it is changed.
Will it run its full term?
