I join with Senators Dolan and Harte in welcoming this Bill. I should now like to see the Minister ask for more money for reasons I shall explain shortly. I cannot agree with Senator Harte that, just because the Minister has promised us another Bill and another chance to discuss the organisation of the authority and the structure of the operation of which the Minister is in charge, we should confine our remarks purely to finance, because we get very few opportunities to discuss anything in the Seanad. We have met only twice since the beginning of July. Therefore Senator Harte cannot accuse Senators on either side of the House of wasting anybody's time since the beginning of July. We have just been earning our money and doing nothing in a legislative sense. We do our best, but perhaps we shall get more opportunities in the new year.
I should like to see the Minister asking for more money for the reason that I feel our broadcasting service is too dominated by the advertising revenue it receives. I know this is a difficult point and one on which a balance must be struck. The balance is not quite right at the moment. It is something we should constantly examine. I have before me a Press release from the authority's report for 1972, and I quote:
The inadequacy of the licence fee levels caused the Authority to become increasingly dependent on advertising income. In the past year advertising accounted for almost 52 per cent of total RTE revenue and licence fees for just over 45 per cent. The Authority believes that the degree to which broadcasting has become financially dependent on advertising revenue is excessive and undesirable.
The report states that the authority believe the licence fees income should provide at least 60 per cent of total revenue. I would support that view. It is essential that we do not allow advertising to dominate the media operated by the State. There would be very undesirable effects if advertising became too prevalent. I am reminded of McLuhan's statement that the medium is the message.
If you watch RTE television for a sufficient length of time the overall impression is not of the quality of the programmes, not of the standard of the interviews or the problem of bias in the news, but of the constant battering one gets from advertisements. The philosophy behind most advertisements that one sees on television is that self-satisfaction is the chief end of man. I am worried about this and the effect it has in a subliminal way.
While I realise that we cannot do without advertising, I would like to see it controlled more strictly. I would like to see the time for which advertisements run very rigidly controlled. I would like to see the establishment of a body which would have two functions. For instance, I would like to see a press council which could mediate on the more subtle problems that arise between the journalists and the organisation, to try to preserve the freedom of the press which is essential but to ensure that it works within the limits that are set out, and I would like to see the advertisements monitored by some independent body which could act as a buffer between the authority and the medium itself and could express public feelings about the sort of problems that arise in advertising.
I also endorse Senator Dolan's plea for more use of television and radio educationally. I wonder if we could not spend more money on this side of our broadcasting. I would like to see some sort of deal being done between the authorities in the Republic and the open university—perhaps sharing some programmes or doing a swap. There are many programmes which RTE produces on Irish topics which now have considerable international interest. It is one of the better effects of the publicity that this country has received. Because of the troubles in the North one of the better effects is that there is a great deal of international interest in this country. I think that many of the RTE programmes have a much wider potential audience. They could be sold or exchanged with organisations such as the Open University. We could relay some of their programmes in return for some programmes produced in Ireland. I would like to see more done to develop the spoken tongues, not just Irish but the other modern continental languages. We would like to see some work being done as is done on networks in Britain on the use of television and radio to develop the facility to speak foreign languages.
Senator Dolan also mentioned the problem of transmitting to Northern Ireland. I know this is one of the things that the Minister is concerned about. I certainly think this is tremendously important. I would like to see a special vote of money by the Oireachtas for the establishment of full transmission facilities in Northern Ireland. I spent a good deal of time in Northern Ireland and I know that there are a number of places where the RTE signal is very poor. Surely the Northern Ireland geographical area is not so big that we could not overcome this situation. If we cannot do a deal with the BBC, can we not establish transmitters on the Border and beam the signal in? When that is done I would like to see something being done to have a weekly programme of northern cultural interest transmitted from RTE in Dublin. I would like to see it going over the Thirty-two Counties.
There are many fine and worthy aspects of northern culture—their music, their own way of speech, their poets, their writers and their own very distinctive tradition. I feel it would do our people here good if they got hit with that for an hour every week. A good programme of Orange music now and then would help in conjunction with a sensitive treatment of the northern cultural scene, to increase understanding. If we are serious about beaming our programmes to Northern Ireland let us beam them something that will sell. Let us give them some northern cultural programmes which will appeal. My viewing of BBC Northern Ireland and UTV, which is not very extensive, does rather seem to indicate that northern culture is not very well catered for. I think that the particular tradition up there which is very strong could be used by RTE with advantage. I would like to see it beamed countrywide.
I am particularly pleased that we shall get an opportunity to have a more detailed discussion on the structure of broadcasting on radio and television in the new year. It is appropriate that the legislation which the Minister intends to bring in is being introduced in this House. We could give it a sensitive and in-depth debate. I look forward to it very much.
There are problems of organisation in RTE which do need an airing and which we read about in the press. We see not so much the problems but their effects in disputes, in walk-outs, in clear tension between management and the journalists, producers and various other people employed. I do not think tension is a bad thing. In fact in an organisation such as this where there are talented people, people with strong views and people with prejudices, tension is inevitable. What I would like to see is this tension being channelled creatively. I look forward to a debate in which we can give this the detailed discussion it deserves. A good deal could be done by a fairly careful study of the roles played by the producers, the journalists and the organisation. I have talked to people in the different categories and they have very different views of each other's roles. An in-depth study of this could be very rewarding.
In RTE there is this category of producer-director which seems to ask for a combination of qualities in one person that even the most talented people do not have. You can be a good producer—the ideas man behind the programme, the man who thinks it out, the man who looks at the wide spectrum—but the director is the person who actually puts on the show and does the technical detail. He is in charge of the actual operation of getting the thing on to the road. Some of the problems in RTE are caused by the fact that people are asked to combine both roles. This is not wise. It comes about through lack of finance. We do not have enough money to pay separate producers and separate directors. This sort of problem should be discussed and I hope we shall have an opportunity to do so later. I remember travelling on the No. 10 bus to Donnybrook one time. I was interested to observe that a number of RTE executives were on this bus and alighted at Montrose. The busman remarked to me later: "You would think sometimes that that place was bloody Hollywood".
I know the problems that have to be faced. I spoke to several people involved, and sensitive discussion on the problems would be welcomed. I do not wish to say any more on this aspect until the next debate. I hope the Minister will introduce the Bill early, and I am certain he will find a ready response in the Seanad for an opportunity to have a wide-ranging debate on the problems of our broadcasting authority.
