Written Answers. - Advertising Standards.
Ivor Callely
Question:
249
Mr. Callely
asked the
Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform
the action taken by him on foot of the widespread concern with regard to the broadcasting of a radio advertisement concerning a deceased person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[17523/00]
The Deputy will be aware that I made a comprehensive statement to this House on this advertisement, in the course of an Adjournment debate in the wake of the tragic death of Anthony Cawley.
A formal written complaint was subsequently made to RTE by the Prisons Authority Interim Board about the broadcast of the advertisement. I understand that the board, through the prisons' director general, made the complaint out of concern on two counts. First, the board was concerned that a person in the custody and care of the prison service should have been referred to in such derogatory terms in a public broadcast and secondly, that the advertisement, according to prison staff, caused considerable distress to the person in question in the time immediately prior to taking his own life on the day of the broadcast.
I am further informed that, having considered the complaint, RTE indicated that it shared the concerns of the prisons board about the advertisement and recognised that the objectionable reference to this prisoner was inappropriate and degrading. I understand that RTE has indicated that the advertisement as submitted to the station should not have been accepted and expressed regret that it was broadcast. I welcome the assurance of the RTE director general who dealt personally with this complaint, that, as a result of this case, the station is reviewing its procedures so that all possible steps are taken to avoid the broadcast of unsuitable words, pictures or any other matter which would risk affronting human dignity.
I am also informed that the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland has upheld a separate complaint about the advertisement made by the head chaplain of the Irish prisons service and decided that the advertisement breached its code of advertising standards. This adjudication has been publicly announced by the authority. In addition, the National Steering Group on Deaths in Prison have written to the Advertising Standards Authority for Ireland to register its view on the inhuman treatment of Anthony Cawley by sections of the media. The group, established in May 1996, includes in its membership experienced representatives of prison management and staff and medical practitioners who are involved in prisons work. Its role is to advise me on preventative measures to deter suicides, to provide a forum for collating reports of the local suicide awareness groups in the institutions and to disseminate significant findings and lessons learned through the prison system.
I believe that the prison authorities who have kept me informed throughout were the appropriate people to pursue this matter and that the outcome of their complaints have vindicated my stance on this subject as set out in my Dáil statement of 18 April 2000.
