Gabhaim mo bhuíochas leis an Chathaoirleach agus le baill an chomhchoiste. Is ábhar sásaimh dom a bheith anseo den chéad uair mar phríomhstiúrthóir RTE. Dearbhaím libh go bhfuil sé mar rún agam leanacht ar aghaidh leis an dea-shampla atá leagtha síos ag an phríomhstiúrthóir a tháinig romham trí obair an chomhchoiste a éascú ar gach ócáid cuí.
Since the last time an RTE delegation presented to the joint committee, we have seen the publication of the charter on public service broadcasting. We welcomed the publication and adhered to its terms. However, we are anxious to see the charter enshrined in legislation and hope that will happen with the publication of the forthcoming broadcasting Bill. The RTE chairman, Mr. Wright, has identified forthcoming legislation as one of the immediate challenges facing RTE. From recent considerations, at both national and European level, it is clear that Ireland needs a consolidated broadcasting Bill.
As the authority chairman stated, he and the members of the authority finish their term of office at the end of this month. In December 2002, the then Minister of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dermot Ahern, said RTE was to become a commercial State company with its own board of 12 directors. This requires a change in legislation and RTE is aware, from ongoing contact with the Department of Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, that the heads of a new broadcasting Bill are being formulated and it is proposed that this Bill will give effect to this decision.
It is RTE's understanding that the new broadcasting Bill will also provide for the establishment of a broadcasting authority of Ireland and the recent Article 17 letter from the European Commission makes it clear that independent regulation is essential. In July 2003, RTE made a submission to the committee which, inter alia, stated “RTE has proposed, on several occasions since the mid-1990s including to the forum on broadcasting 2002, that there is a need for independent monitoring of public service broadcasting and so would welcome in principle the establishment of a broadcasting authority”.
Under existing legislation the raison d’être of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland is the promotion and regulation of commercial broadcasting. RTE, therefore, believes that there would be a clear conflict of interest if the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland were to evolve into a new broadcasting authority, charged with nurturing both public service and commercial broadcasting. It is the clear intention of the members of the forum on broadcasting that an entirely new body be established and RTE would hope that this position would be adopted. RTE considers that it is perhaps impossible for the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland to avoid conflicts of interest, given its remit under the 2001 Broadcasting Act. RTE also regrets that in drafting that legislation the opportunity was missed to comprehensively address the regulation of all broadcasting. We reiterate that position and would be happy to enter into discussions with committee members if required.
RTE strives to be fully compliant to all requirements and to follow best practice where there is no designated code or similar. For example, the RTE authority fully subscribes to the Government's code of practice for the governance of State bodies and the RTE chairman reports annually to the Minister on RTE's adherence to the terms of this code. There is also a code of business conduct for authority members, drawn up to meet the requirements of the code of practice, which takes full cognisance of On Board, the joint initiative of the chief executives of State sponsored bodies and the Institute of Public Administration.
The members of the RTE authority are designated directors under the Ethics in Public Acts and as such complete the annual statutory declaration. These completed forms are sent annually by the authority's secretary to the Standards in Public Office Commission and copies are kept on file in the office of the secretary to the authority. Authority members are also required, under the Broadcasting Authority Act 1960, to disclose to the authority any interest, the nature of such interest, which he or she has in any company or concern with which the authority proposes to make any contract or in any contract which the authority proposes to make. The register of interests arising under this requirement is kept in the office of the secretary to the authority. Over the years there have been several cases where authority members withdrew from authority meetings due to conflict of interest situations arising.
The RTE code for public declaration of interests covers all staff employed, directly, indirectly or by way of any contractual means including members of the RTE authority. Members of the RTE executive board hold designated positions under Ethics in Public Acts and complete annual statutory declarations and submit them to the chairman of the authority. These completed forms are kept on file in the office of the secretary to the authority.
RTE's code of conduct for its staff is detailed in the personnel policy and procedures manual, the fifth edition of which took into account matters raised by this joint committee in July 2003. The organisation is currently undertaking a further review and updating of this code and the onus is on the organisation to bring the requirements of the code to the attention of all staff members and on individual staff members to adhere to the requirements in full.
RTE's code of business conduct was agreed through the partnership process, adopted by the executive board and noted by the RTE authority in 2002. It is intended to steer the conduct of both the organisation and of all who work for or on behalf of RTE, both internally and externally, in all business activities.
Undoubtedly, the people of Ireland's most important measure of RTE is its output across the various divisions of television, radio, news and current affairs, publishing and the performing groups. I do not want to focus on the details that I have given in my review in the annual report but would like to focus on some key points and briefly address each of these output areas. Before I do so I would like to highlight the fact that when different divisions of RTE share a joint focus, the cliché "the sum is greater than the parts" is proven to be a truism. This practice began in 2003 with a focus on the Special Olympics and was followed in 2004 with the EU Presidency and the centenary of Bloomsday, while this year we are paying particular attention to Cork 2005, European city of culture.
Of all RTE's activities, television is the area that commands the greatest proportion of the audience and the largest expenditure, and the annual report includes a detailed breakdown of this expenditure. With a commitment to continue to provide a value-added service for the public through effective branding of its many activities under the RTE umbrella, Network 2 has been given increased attention through the commissioning of new programming and its repositioning as RTE Two. This attention will continue and increase in 2005 and we expect the audience will increasingly appreciate the complementary programming offered on RTE One and RTE Two. We have also upgraded and improved our digital transmission suite, which has facilitated enhancement of our output for hearing-impaired people, allowing the subtitling of programming of national and international events together with regular additional programmes.
Drama is the most expensive genre in terms of production and therefore has attracted a significant amount of the increased expenditure, with very good results. For example, RTE has received critical and popular acclaim for series like "Proof" and "The Clinic". Co-productions such as "Omagh", co-produced with Channel 4, have won several national and international awards including the coveted Discovery award at the Toronto Festival. Some of these critically successful drama productions have sold well internationally.
RTE's children's programmes have suffered a decline in audience share with the growth in the number of dedicated channels available. That is of concern, and several new measures are being taken to address this decline. I am optimistic that next year's annual report will have positive comments to make in this regard.
RTE television sport continues to be very strong, with excellent coverage across the GAA, soccer, including European soccer in 2004, rugby, including the triple crown campaign in 2004, and an increased focus on so-called minority sports. We have successfully negotiated contracts with the GAA, FAI and IRFU for the next three years, ensuring the best of sports programming on a free-to-air basis to the Irish people.
The four RTE radio channels, which operate in an extremely competitive marketplace, held a 42% share of all listening during 2004. While virtually all the programming output has always been home-produced, increased investment has allowed the stations to offer new alternatives. For example, RTE Radio 1 has introduced a new range of series across the board covering science, politics and local government, sports features, drama for children, travel, food, Irish language, expansion of the EU, racism in Ireland, and the arts. Meanwhile, RTE 2FM targets the under-35s and continues to present programmes to attract and appeal to this younger adult audience. It celebrated its 25th anniversary last year, and the 21st anniversary of the RTE 2FM-Jacobs song contest, the leading national radio stage for young performers and composers.
RTE Raidió na Gaeltachta delivers to Irish speakers a service broadly similar to that of RTE Radio 1, with special attention paid to traditional music, and also local news and issues of the day in the various Gaeltacht communities. Of the RTE channels, RTE Raidió na Gaeltachta rose best to the challenge of local elections counts from around the country and provided effective, sustained and informative coverage.
The classical music and arts channel, RTE Lyric FM, has broadened its music policy to increase its appeal during 2004 with a widening choice of jazz, cinema, traditional and world music, as well as the classical canon. During 2004, RTE Lyric FM brought its own radio and music-making experience to students at 41 schools around the country, and 200 outside broadcasts were organised at regional festivals, venues and arts events, from the west Cork chamber music festival to the national ploughing championships.
The question of regional coverage in general is the focus of internal discussion in RTE, and a new cross-IBD or independent business divisions working group is co-ordinating all aspects of RTE's output activities in the regions. This group will also bring forward a draft regional policy for RTE broadcasting before the end of this year.
As in the case of television, increased investment has had a significant impact on our news and current affairs output. This has included the introduction of the widely acclaimed "Prime Time Investigates" strand, increased nationwide programming and a significant increase in the ability of the division to respond quickly to breaking news, nationally and internationally, including stories as diverse as the Madrid bombings, the horror of the tsunami in south-east Asia, the death of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II and the election of Pope Benedict XVI. Equally, scheduled events of national interest were comprehensively covered, for example the Irish Presidency of the European Union, the accession of ten new EU member states, the Presidential inauguration, the citizenship referendum and local government and European elections.
RTE's publishing division has four distinct business units. The long-established RTE Guide remains Ireland’s leading family entertainment magazine. To date in 2005, the focus on a value-added strategy has continued with supplements complementary to RTE programming, including “Show me the Money”, “Sunday Game”, “Off the Rails”, “No Frontiers” and the Eurovision Song Contest — on which we might pause. Two weeks ago, the free CD and poster complementing the RTE Radio programme on the dawn chorus saw an increase in sales of the RTE Guide of more than 20%. This is another example of the strength of different IBDs working closely together for the benefit of the audience.
www.rte.ie is now Ireland’s most popular media website and its popularity is increasing rapidly. An indication of this is the page impressions it enjoys, a total of 6.8 million in the month of April 2003, rising to 9.3 million in April 2004 and a remarkable 14.2 million for last month, April 2005. RTE Aertel is the country’s leading teletext service with a user base in excess of 800,000 homes, over 90% of all homes with teletext. RTE publishing’s commercial telecoms offer SMS-IVR services to over 30 RTE television and radio programmes, generating in excess of 7.1 million SMS-IVR messages in 2004, an increase of 18% over the 2003 figure.
Reinforcing RTE's role as a major cultural force in the community and strengthening its distinctive public service ethos, the performing groups benefited from continued investment and had a busy and successful year in 2004. For example, live events in 2004 attracted new audiences with an increase of 17% on 2003 figures, while commercial income also increased significantly, by 27%. The Farmleigh proms continue to attract a particularly strong and loyal audience, and both this activity and the RTE National Symphony Orchestra attracted commercial sponsorship during 2004.
I will refer to a small number of our corporate commitments which may be of particular interest to the joint committee. In response to the publication by the former Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dermot Ahern, of the charter on public service broadcasting, the RTE authority published a document, RTE's Guiding Principles — Implementing the Public Service Broadcasting Charter, in November 2004. The vision articulated in this document will directly inform the development of the organisation's five-year corporate plan in 2005, charting RTE's journey forward into the digital production and distribution age. The draft plan will be presented to the new authority in the October-November period with a view to publication by the end of the year. Copies of the document will be circulated to the members of this committee. Also of particular note, and in keeping with published commitments, RTE has appointed an audience council, now in its second year of activity. A member of the RTE authority sits on the council and acts as a bridge between the authority and council. A report of each of the council's meetings is published on the RTE website. Throughout the year senior editorial management has attended all of the meetings to discuss programming priorities and listen to the views and concerns of the council. In turn, these views have informed editorial considerations.
I wish to refer to diversity because in a changing Ireland, multiculturalism is of growing importance. The audience council discussed this topic on several occasions. Other aspects of diversity that were considered included how religious and cultural groups find representation on RTE programmes and in schedules. A discussion paper on disability in the media was prepared by a member of the audience council and considered by it, in session. The council examined how diversity and equality issues are reflected and considers that the journalistic treatment of such issues is trustworthy, authoritative and professional.
I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for their attention and I look forward to answering questions.
