I move:—
That a supplementary sum not exceeding £13,000 be granted to defray the Charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of March, 1953, for Salaries and other Expenses in connection with Wireless Broadcasting (No. 45 of 1926), including Public Concerts.
In accordance with arrangements made between the Whips the main Wireless Broadcasting Estimate, together with some other Estimates, was agreed to without debate before the recess on the understanding that a token vote would be taken at the opening of the new Session. In virtue of that agreement I am bringing this Supplementary Estimate before the House to enable Deputies to debate the broadcasting service generally but I have also taken the opportunity of making provision for expenditure not anticipated when the main Estimate was framed. I have in addition drawn attention in the Estimate to the proposal to establish a broadcasting council in order to seek the approval of the House for it.
I am sure the House will not wish me at this stage to go over the individual sub-heads of the main Estimate to explain the variations. The figures have been in the hands of Deputies for some months. I shall at the same time be glad to give Deputies any information that may be required in regard to the various sums asked for in the Vote or in connection with any aspect of Radio Éireann in which the House may be interested.
In addition to the primary purpose of providing an opportunity for Deputies to discuss broadcasting generally I shall now explain the need for the sum over and above the token provision which would ordinarily have been sufficient for the purpose of a debate. The gross sum required in the Estimate is £20,000, but extra Appropriations-in-Aid are expected to be available from sponsored programmes to the extent of £7,000 thus reducing the net sum required to £13,000.
The main reason for the £20,000 gross extra sum required is the cost of providing a morning programme with two news bulletins. The need for providing for a service of this sort was not of course foreseen in connection with the main Estimate. The morning service began on the 12th July when the newspapers became involved in the printers' strike. Judging from the commendations received from many quarters the early programmes had a widespread appeal. The news contained local items which could not be got from the B.B.C. or any other station and it might be said we had a distinctive programme with which no other broadcasting organisation could compete. When the newspapers were about to reappear strong public pressure made itself felt to continue the morning programme as a permanent arrangement and we have acceded to that demand.
The morning opening will this year cost £11,000 of the £20,000 required in the Supplementary Estimate and it will cost £15,000 in a full year. The balance of the £9,000 required is needed mainly for the payment of extra performing right fees and extra fees to advertising agents. Performing right fees are based on licence numbers and when we increased the licences by 35,000 in a special drive this year that involved an automatic increase in the performing right and other copyright fees. In the same way more sponsored programmes mean extra commission to the advertising agents and this is borne on the Vote.
I am glad to say that as against this Supplementary Estimate for £20,000 gross we expect to have receipts from licence and sponsored programmes higher than expected by £21,000. This is due to the "drive" and to better facilities for sponsored programmes.
As I indicated at the beginning I have shown in the Estimate an expenditure of £500 as remuneration for the members of Comhairle Radio Éireann, the establishment of which the Government has approved.
Before describing in detail the re-organisation of Radio Éireann I feel I should very briefly refer to the general progress of Radio Éireann and outline what I hope are reasonable aspirations for the future.
I should refer first to protests received from time to time that listening is not possible because of local electrical interference with reception and that a licence fee should not be expected in such conditions. I have every sympathy for listeners whose enjoyment of broadcast reception is lessened by interference although the number of complaints received is not large in relation to the number of licence holders—about 1,000 per year for 380,000 licensees. Obviously the Department cannot waive the licence fee because some interference is experienced. The Department is bound to insist on the fulfilment of the legal obligation to pay the fee on wireless telegraphy apparatus irrespective of listening conditions, and further, I think Deputies will appreciate that it would be quite impossible to administer the licensing regulations if waiver of payment were allowed for interference or for a set being out of order.
In connection with this question of interference listeners should appreciate that the sources of such interference are innumerable—every faulty light switch in the country is a potential source of interference. Quite obviously therefore some interference will exist at times in most places. We are doing everything possible to keep the trouble down.
As I mentioned earlier we have made provision to put a further van on the road for this work. We have demonstarted the effectiveness of fitting suppressors to electrical apparatus at the recent exhibition by the wireless trade in Dublin and we had some illustrated radio talks about interference at the same time.
I would appeal to listeners who experience interference, however, to ensure that their set is not at fault and that they have a satisfactory earth and aerial before they make a complaint. Twentythree per cent. of all complaints are due to faulty wireless sets. Listeners could also do a great deal by local co-operation in having electrical sources of interference suppressed. The Department's technicians have generally to travel long distances to trace down sources of interference, and fit suppressors where desired. A great deal of this work could be done without expense and delay by listeners themselves in co-operation with the local wireless trader and with the owners of electrical plant. In fact, our inspectors are now organising local area drives to this end.
The House will be glad to know that extra studio accommodation in the General Post Office planned in 1947 is now ready. This will give some relief from the congested and otherwise very unsatisfactory conditions that now exist. The provision of these studios is the utmost in the way of studio accommodation that can be obtained in the General Post Office but, of course, really satisfactory broadcasting accommodation cannot be provided in a building designed for a totally different purpose from broadcasting. There will still be a serious lack of office accommodation and it will be most difficult to get such offices in the already overcrowded General Post Office building.
A specially designed broadcasting headquarters such as is provided in practically all the countries of Europe will be the only solution for proper broadcasting accommodation. A recent rearrangement of existing studio space in the General Post Office has given improved facilities for handling sponsored programmes and the station is now accepting advertisers who were on a waiting list.
New up-to-date transmitters have been ordered for the Athlone, Dublin and Cork stations but the cost will not fall into the present year. The Athlone transmitter will be of the same power as the present transmitter i.e., 100 Kw. This is the maximum power permissible under the European broadcasting plan to which this country is a party. The Dublin and Cork transmitters will be each of 5 Kw. power instead of the present power of 2 and 1 Kw. respectively. When the transmitters have been installed—probably towards the end of next summer—reception conditions should be much improved, particularly for those who listen to the present very low power Dublin and Cork stations.
I should mention that the new transmitters will probably help a good deal to get over interference from foreign stations which is being experienced to some extent by all countries throughout Europe. This is, of course, distinct from the local interference to which I referred earlier. Because of the large number of countries in Europe close to one another—as compared with say America or Australia—all of whom need wavelengths for the provision of a national broadcasting service the broadcasting bands in the European area have been congested for a number of years. Matters are now further complicated by the international situation.
We have made arrangements with the City of Cork Vocational Committee for the incorporation of broadcasting studios in a new school of music which the committee is preparing to build in Cork. When this building has been completed the Cork broadcasting artistes will have very much more comfortable conditions than they have in the present rather primitive studio accommodation in the city.
Many improvements and developments have taken place in the programme organisation during the year, such as the extension of the feature "Beginners Please" to Cork, where a large audience took part in the feature with the light orchestra, and more recently to Sligo. It is hoped that a local "Beginners Please" will be held in other centres.
A balance and control officer has been added to the organisation to ensure that the programmes will be broadcast with more fidelity than was possible hitherto. In addition to programmes of traditional music and of songs in the native language we are doing something to popularise songs in English with a national flavour. The "Balladmakers' Saturday Night," a very popular feature, is an example of this.
I shall be referring later to the hours of broadcasting in this country but I should say here that, while the over-all period of broadcasting during the day has remained practically stationary for a long time, the amount of work that went into the preparation of the programmes, even up to recent years, was only a fraction of that which is put into it now. The public may be aware of that in a general way because the Press gives much more attention to broadcasting in special radio columns than it did formerly. The fact that there are such daily radio columns is in itself evidence that the newspapers consider broadcasting worth more attention now than was the case.
As I said, the appreciation of the general public for improved presentations is of a broad nature and it may be no harm for me to give some idea of what work is involved in raising standards. In the first place, although the hours of broadcasting have not been extended, the number of programmes broadcast now in a week as compared with 1939 has been raised by about 50 per cent. (from about 100 a week to approaching 150 a week). These figures include the additional news in the morning. We have had to increase the numbers of programmes by gradual stages.
Broadcasting at present has very much more interest than it had ten years ago for the public and the Press, Departments of State, churches, cultural bodies, voluntary associations, sports bodies and other bodies, and practically every section of the community which has some message to give demands an allocation of broadcasting time as a right. With technical developments we are also in a better position to get outstanding programmes from abroad.
To increase the number of programmes and to give space to meet the more extensive demands being made on broadcasting the station has to resort to expert "packing".
Many of the fairly long types of solo item of former years which required comparatively little rehearsal and preparation have been severely cut down. At the same time the music department of the station which provided ten items per week in 1939 now provides 24 items a week. The other sections of the station have increased their contributions in somewhat similar proportions.
In former years the rehearsal of programmes was wholly inadequate and it was not uncommon that programmes were put on the air without a single microphone rehearsal. While space restrictions still make it impossible to have anything like as many rehearsals as would be desired the position has been changed very radically in that respect in recent years. The number of hours rehearsal in 1939 was 538; in 1950 it was 1,457.
Recording of programmes, particularly recording on tape, makes it possible to produce programmes that would have been quite impossible until a few years ago. It facilitates speakers who cannot attend during broadcasting hours and it enables interesting items assembled individually by outside broadcast officers, script writers, descriptive news writers, and sections in the station to be brought together, edited and broadcast as a single programme.
Rehearsals for recordings, and the recordings themselves are, however, more complex than the rehearsals for live programmes and they take a great deal of time to carry out. Recording sessions were practically unknown until a couple of years ago. In 1939 there were only 62 hours of recording sessions while in 1950 there were 4,500 hours.
The examples I have given of the compression of programmes made necessary by the increased demands on broadcasting space and of the more elaborate nature of the individual programmes will give the House a fair idea of the extra volume of work that has to be put into broadcasting generally without increasing the total hours of broadcasting.
To give the arrangement of programmes all the meticulous attention they now need as compared with former years, the station organisation will require some strengthening if planning is to be done less hurriedly, for the better presentation of talks and other features, for more complete technical balancing of the programme as it goes on the air and for other matters connected with programme presentation.
Even with a larger licence fee the financial resources which broadcasting can earn of itself will not be sufficient to procure all the facilities needed and some improvisation must continue to be made if the present rate is maintained. We are at a disadvantage as compared with even very small countries like Denmark which has 1,200,000 licence holders for a population of little over 4,000,000. I consider on the whole that the Radio Éireann programmes are very good allowing for the somewhat inadequate organisation and the inadequate studio space and the very rigid control exercised in regard to innovations.
I have referred immediately above to the gradually increasing responsibility demanded from broadcasting executives over the past ten or 12 years. I should now like to refer to my own short association with broadcasting and my general outlook on it. I wish to make it very clear in the first instance that I have taken a deep, personal and immediate interest in the administration of Radio Éireann, in the formation of the programmes and in all other matters pertaining to the service.
I think it would be well if I were to give my ideas on the function of Radio Éireann in a very general and simple way, in the hope that they will be approved. The ideas are not original. In the main they are a reaffirmation of the traditional policy. They have been indeed adopted by the best broadcasting systems in Europe.
The primary purpose of Radio Éireann is to provide entertainment in an Irish setting to suit every taste to be found in our community; from our own and foreign dance music to classical compositions; from Irish and universal variety shows to debates in Irish and English on Irish and universal themes; from traditional music and songs from the four provinces of Ireland in Irish and English to operas and songs in every language from abroad.
It is my particular object to make the programmes, in so far as they are based on Irish settings, distinctively Irish in character and year by year I hope to increase still further the already considerable volume of material, coming to us in greater quantities, particularly from the Six-County area.
I must now follow with some very obvious generalisations which appear to be forgotten by the many correspondents who write to the newspapers, and to ourselves, complaining of the Radio Éireann programme. Firstly, the taste of our listeners demands a varied programme. If the results of "Listener Research" in Great Britain or, say, Belgium, were to be compared with a similar investigation if made here, the preferences in regard to the content of the programme would be found I believe to be somewhat similar. In order to satisfy everyone a very considerable part of the programme would have to be in relation to universal themes, sometimes in an Irish setting and frequently not so. Without having yet made an accurate study of our listeners' wishes I am perfactly certain that in common with every country in Europe, light music would come very nearly at the top of the list in respect of volume demand. The "Hospitals' Request" programme indicates a preponderating interest in light dance music, a particular interest in certain foreign singers, a very modest interest in Irish songs, with a very slight demand for semi-classical and classical music. It would also be true to say that the taste of people living in the countryside as distinct from the inhabitants of our cities and towns is more conservative and more racy of the soil and there is a continual demand for ballads.
It is well for the House to face the fact that if any particular item is broadcast in excess of what our listeners wish they will instantly transfer to the B.B.C. or to some other system, and because of this, letters from correspondents in the newspapers demanding more of a particular type of programme are utterly useless as they give no clue as to what the actual proportion of the various types of broadcasts should be.
Here I must sound a warning note. There is undoubtedly a demand for our own music, instrumental and vocal, and we do our utmost to satisfy it. Let no one, however, have any illusions. A great number of the young people in this country have adopted light variety, operatic and Anglo-American dance music as their folk music along with our own melodies, in the same way as other European countries, even those whose predominating language is not English.
The universality of the English language increases the force of Anglo-Americanisation taking place all over the world and to offset this we shall have to make a far greater and more prolonged effort in the future to present our own music, drama and literature to our listeners in a way which will engender their abiding love and admiration.
As in the case of all good broadcasting institutions abroad the Radio Éireann programme is weighted to provide palatable, cultural entertainment with an emphasis on our own creative and traditional culture and possibly of a somewhat higher standard than we would expect to be asked for by "popular" demand. As I said before, I know that light music would head the list here as in other places in the collated results of any listener research investigation.
The Radio Éireann programmes do contain quite an amount of light music and other items of the lighter type.
The programme also includes a proportion of more highbrow items not really justified in a single programme but inevitable if we are to pursue the right policy. We cannot give way too much to what I might term demands by the more vocal section of the community in the setting of standards.
As a nation which claims cultural traditions, we should cater for the smaller but less vocal section whose tastes do not lean to mass-produced foreign entertainment and, of course, we must play our part in the work of helping to restore the national language.
I feel that any dissatisfaction that may exist in regard to the proportions of the programmes devoted to serious and popular items lies to a great extent in the fact that all of them have to be sent out in one general programme. If listeners had running concurrently two home programmes from which to select the items of their choice—light or serious, as the case may be—there would, I think, be less criticism that Radio Éireann is high-brow or lowbrow. I shall be referring later in my statement to the question of a second programme.
I mentioned, incidentally, a few moments ago the question of ascertaining listeners' tastes by modern methods. Listener research is, to my mind, vital as a check on programme planning and as a means of keeping programme heads at the top of their form, and I intend to inaugurate this valuable service.
The object of any good radio service should be to intermingle light programmes with more serious items requiring a greater degree of concentration in such a manner that at least a good proportion of listeners will leave the radio on before the lighter item commences and after it terminates and can, we hope, be induced to enjoy a varied programme. The quality of the more serious items must be of the very highest to achieve this result.
In all I have been saying it will be obvious to Deputies that the ordinary school programmes could not possibly provide stimulating ideas and information on matters of vital importance, such as knowledge of how the Government works, knowledge of legislation, knowledge of the day-to-day economic problems of the country; nor can they learn very much of the recent history of Ireland nor of the national revolution.
The knowledge which they glean of Irish music and song must be supplemented by Radio Éireann. Radio Éireann has already played a vital part in this work.
It is, of course, important to state that while Radio Éireann as a provider of entertainment must to some degree supplant other forms of entertainment this is not our ideal. Apart from offering light entertainment in reasonable measures our purpose should be to encourage young people to read good books, to go to concerts, to engage in animated fireside discussion and to organise more debates and to sing a greater variety of Irish and other good songs. There is so much mass-produced entertainment these days that for Radio Éireann to encourage a kind of dullness of mind would be appalling.
Probably the most noteworthy innovation during the year which will help to lead our people to think critically on matters of public importance— cultural, social and political—was the introduction of unscripted discussions on controversial subjects including discussions on matters of current political interest.
Many people had expressed the fear from time to time that as a nation we were too immature politically to permit free broadcasting discussions on current matters on which there were considerable and perhaps violent differences of opinion.
I did not hold that view and I am glad to say that experience has proved that I was right. I authorised the broadcasting service to permit people with different opinions, political and otherwise, to express their views freely on a wide range of controversial subjects—the only limitations being, broadly, the observance of the decencies of debate and the avoidance of libellous statements. The discussions are fulfilling all that I had in mind from them. Many debates have been held in which persons prominent in the life of our nation have expressed their opinions frankly but without rancour or heat.
In the development of our debates we have a feature of great importance for the future of the country. The world has become immensely complex. In the political life the following of political trends has become much more difficult. It is absolutely essential to help young people to become mature in mind so that they may question carefully all the obvious panaceas to bring about human perfection and at the same time understand the part now played by State institutions. They need to have faith in their country by far more knowledge of our economic potentialities, our art, music and drama.
Broadcasting can do much to make us all interested in the now immensely complex galaxy we call Ireland.
The freedom of speech now allowed in broadcasting debates has been of very great advantage to us. I should mention incidentally that from my researches abroad I have found that debaters require much rehearsal and a training in the habit of radio debate, which is different from any other kind of discussion. I found also that even in England with its huge population that a trained first-class chairman of debate is a rare bird. Much advantage is gained abroad by beginning debates for less experienced people on the nursery slopes at times of the day when there are very few listeners.
In addition to the debates I arranged for a weekly commentary on the proceedings of the Oireachtas. Since the feature started there has hardly been a single complaint that the summary did not give a balanced account of parliamentary proceedings of the week. In fact, the feature has been widely commended.
Next, I should draw the attention of the House to the development of music in this country. I should like to make special mention of a scheme which I introduced this year for the purpose of making it somewhat easier for local musical societies to undertake the organisation of concerts by the two orchestras. I invited business firms throughout the country to sponsor concerts by either the symphony or light orchestra. The response of the business organisations has been splendid. A number of sponsored concerts have already been held and others will be held. The business firms get some advertisement from their association with these concerts but I prefer to think that their primary object is to help in the diffusion of good music. These concerts have immense possibilities for the creation of a live interest in music among our people. They give confidence to the many musical societies which I am glad to say are springing up in many parts of the country and are an inspiration to small orchestral combinations like those conducted in the secondary schools.
I need scarcely tell the House that every broadcasting organisation requires the services of a symphony orchestra—as well as of other orchestras. I am glad to say that our symphony orchestra is not alone filling its broadcasting function of playing in the studios and providing recordings and relays from outside concerts, but it is giving the country an opportunity of hearing personal performances of classical and semi-classical music which our people never had before. The light orchestra also progresses.
The number of musical societies grows apace all over the country and the number willing to undertake the sponsoring of concerts by the Radio Éireann Orchestras is also growing. I have visited concerts held in various provincial towns as in Dublin and I have noticed that the audience consisted of people of all ages and grades in society.
The Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra is gradually becoming the national orchestra of Ireland, playing in public, filling large theatres, such as the Theatre Royal, and playing with soloists of international repute.
I am determined to build up this orchestra until it achieves a European reputation. For this the minimum initial standard to which young Irish musicians must aspire must be secured by the services of short-term contract players from abroad who will be as welcome here as they are in other small countries.
When the orchestra is thus established, it should be possible to find a permanent conductor who believes he can, in the course of a few years, make the reputation of the orchestra and his own by hard work. In due time, let us hope, we will have an orchestra manned by at least 90 per cent. Irish players.
Indeed, every country in Europe, from the smallest to the largest, has one or more brilliant symphony orchestras—some of them are internationally famous and go on tour. Most of them have resident internationally educated and famous conductors. A very considerable number of these orchestras consists of non-nationals to a varying degree up to 50 per cent.
Classical music is international in character, and for its exponents in interpretation and execution there cannot be too rigid confinement to national boundaries. I should say that in countries with much affinity to our own, such as Italy and France, virtually everyone is interested in classical music whether light or serious, and the humblest worker in these countries considers such music as part of his normal entertainment. I fully believe that the same progress towards an appreciation of good music would be evident here in the future. Indeed, love of our own music is inextricably connected with love of good music in general. I know that people interested in good music will need assistance and encouragement from such bodies as the recently formed Arts Council. A tremendous effort will be needed if we are to compete with, at least, the musical establishments and academies of the smallest countries.
I should say that apart from the provincial concerts to which I have referred, I hope to arrange for the symphony orchestra to play popular classical music with soloist performers in a Dublin theatre on Sunday nights next year and I trust the audience will give this, for us, entirely novel programme, a fair hearing. We also intend to continue the children's concerts wherever the Radio Éireann Symphony Orchestra plays. These concerts have been an immense success.
Concurrently with our efforts to raise orchestral standards and because I have had to invite guest players from abroad I have been giving close attention to another aspect of the problem, that is, the question of the improvement of music teaching facilities which will enable young Irishmen to take their places in our orchestras. I know that there is vital need for the establishment of more master classes under teachers of distinction to give our students the opportunity of reaching concert standard at home.
There have been developments in this connection and I am glad to know that the Royal Irish Academy of Music, which has received a moderate increase in its grant, has already appointed over seven new instructors for the various classes of instrument. It is also offering some 14 scholarships, mainly for wind instruments, to those who wish to avail of the instruction from these teachers and are capable of doing so.
The professors for these special classes are our guest players in the Radio Éireann Orchestra. I have every confidence that improved organisation and facilities for teaching will bear good fruit and place us eventually on a level with the conservatories of other countries.
In the meantime, until we can turn out pupils in numbers up to the level of those in first-class orchestras we shall on every occasion on which new players are required for the Radio Éireann Orchestra, give auditions to any individual instrumentalists at home with a view to securing their places in it. They will always be heard by an impartial board, including members who have a natural desire to give a chance to native talent.
It would be just as well to be frank, however, and say that even in relation to our small population of 3,000,000 a great deal more needs to be done in the development of the highest class of teaching both in regard to voices and instruments. I fully hope and believe that the Arts Council will have this matter actively in mind.
Before I leave the question of music, I should say that Irish music should be played in this country and, indeed, outside it to a far greater extent than it is. The extent of our orchestral arrangements is, however, woefully inadequate.
I commend this work of arrangement for instruments varying in kind and number and for voices to those who have the ability and interest to take part in it. Given proper arrangement there are many beautiful Irish airs which should be played as often throughout Europe as The Blue Danube, Rhapsody in Blue, Old Man River and so on.
Even in our countryside the variety of songs sung at local concerts is very limited. Not one-twentieth of the airs available have been arranged to suit the multifarious tastes of all communities.
I think at this point that I should appeal to all those thousands of people in this country who gain a livelihood from the expanded tourist industry. Tourists leave here £25,000,000 in a normal post-war year. A great deal of this trade can be kept for this country provided varied entertainment is offered. We have a climate that can be capricious. We have a hospitable and courteous people and some of the most beautiful scenery on earth, but much more is required if we are to continue to bring visitors to our shores. The tourists who come here are of various categories but it is only too obvious from seeing them during the summer period that a very large number of them are the kind of people who appreciate in a reasonable way good music, foreign and Irish, and good plays. They consist of the kind of people of very modest incomes who enjoy holidays where scenery, good talk, sport and some kind of special entertainment are all available.
If in the time to come currency restrictions grow lighter and there should be no war, we will have to make a very great effort to interest them in continuing to come here, and we shall have to provide for their entertainment, both in music and in other spheres.
The international festival idea has been developing all over Europe and in our own country, both as a means of bringing new cultural entertainment to the citizens of a country and of attracting tourists. The Edinburgh Festival, where great orchestras and choirs perform, where Scottish music and dancing are heard and seen at their very best, is an example of note, and there are many others besides.
If we are to bring more people to this country in the periods when there is hotel accommodation, we must have a great forum where spectacular entertainment can be given. For this purpose, we need some building which can be used as assembly rooms, possibly as a theatre and also as a concert hall. It is to be noted that even in the summer months the repertory theatres are packed with foreign visitors and seats have to be secured well in advance.
I am glad to note that the question of constructing a concert hall-cum-assembly rooms-cum-theatre in Dublin is now the subject of active investigation.
On behalf of Radio Éireann, I wish to commend the notable efforts of those who are in touch with the Dublin Corporation in connection with a site for this purpose. I commend also in this connection the activities of the Music Association of Ireland and of the recently formed committee which is working on the concert-hall project. There should be continuous festivals of one kind or another in this country and far greater amenities for international congresses.
The direct interest of Radio Éireann in this matter is, of course, that we should have somewhere for the orchestra to play in public and give us a larger scope for our general musical activities.
Apart from these considerations, may I say again we should have a concert hall here, play good and light music there in order to encourage Irish musicians and players; in order to make it worthwhile for Irish singers to be trained who will come back home and find there are people who are willing to listen to them; in order to procure a proper home for opera; in order to encourage more Irish composition and the arrangement of Irish traditional music in new settings?
While on the subject of music in general I should say that I have had to encourage the director of music to raise by several notches the standard of singing and I have disappointed as a result some of our most faithful contributors. Everything I have done in this connection is in accordance with what is the great need of the nation at the present time and about which there is no, or should be no, Party disagreement, the need to raise standards in every walk of life. In some aspects of national life we have succeeded in achieving standards equal to or superior to those of other countries. In many others, we still have a very long way to go.
In connection with the many demands by societies and individuals for radio time, I suppose many members of the House know that actors, singers and debaters who sound good in parish halls, in Dublin theatres and in drawing-rooms may be absolutely hopeless when broadcasting unless they are trained to broadcast and unless they have the natural quality of voice which is pleasing over the microphone.
Lastly, may I say that our repertory company has been highly praised from many quarters? I hope our listeners will find the quality of production ever improves.
In speaking of the various types of programme offered by Radio Éireann I should advert to the general policy maintained in regard to news and announcements related to State activities in order to present the true picture to the House. Firstly, the Dáil Debates are summarised in the news. Secondly, annual political congresses receive approximately equal time in the news programme. Thirdly, Radio Éireann in common with other broadcasting stations reports the announcements of Ministers made at public functions if these are considered to be of news value. Fourthly, Ministers occasionally deliver short addresses on special recognised occasions such as the Budget announcement or on Easter Day. The frequency of all these is proportional, generally speaking, to the volume of similar reports in the daily and weekly Press taken as a whole. I should add that, since the end of the war emergency period, there has been no change whatever in the principles governing the broadcasting of political news.
Information on State activities, whether made available by official announcements or by Ministers at functions, requires a greater proportion of radio time because the complex character of government requires so much explanation. This is the position under all administrations. Compared with Great Britain and taking all governmental publicity in its widest sense into account, we are more conservative. I have come to agree with my predecessor that to interfere either direct or through the director with the news staff, all of whom have prolonged experience, is most unwise, and that complaints in relation to the four types of news above-mentioned are sporadic and very infrequent. Criticism of the Dáil debate reports is very rare indeed and is generally based on the fact that to explain a Bill takes longer than to criticise it, and on the fact that from time to time Deputies of any one Party may find the debate report unbalanced on a particular occasion.
The news editor must be allowed to choose what is worth while reporting and by long tradition he endeavours to balance a debate on a controversial issue within the ambit of a reasonable period.
Bearing all the above considerations in mind I would express the hope that, without making the news and discussion services the subject of narrow Party comment, Deputies will co-operate in giving serious consideration to the following ideas for future development which will, in fact, give a better balance to political controversy in general.
Radio Eireann, in fact, is one of the few stations in Western Europe that does not transmit stated political broadcasts by political party representatives in proportion to their numbers in between elections and during a general election. Alone in Western Europe members of the Oireachtas do not debate together in threes and fours or with others on controversial topics with a political flavour. So far as concerns an extension of programme where political thought is expressed, I have succeeded only in arranging for freedom of debate by the public in general and in encouraging the director to inaugurate the Saturday Dáil Commentary, which has proved popular. I should like to have an expansion of the service considered by introducing these additional universally accepted types of programme. On the one hand, subject to the ordinary rules governing the prohibition of personal attacks on individuals, the heads of Parties could be free to nominate their speakers for stated and general election political broadcasts.
The Parties will equally have to agree on the proportion of time to be allotted as in other countries where there are broadcasting parliamentary committees of an informal character. The Government itself as in many countries will have to be assured that the contemplated programme can proceed without any reasonable chance of failure through absence of co-operation.
The director on the other hand, as in other countries, while ensuring political balance, would have to be given sole and absolute discretion as to the choice of back-bench Deputies and Senators for inclusion in Radio Éireann studio debates and there will be unavoidable heart-burnings. Broadcasting is an art and there would be Deputies and Senators who, though excellent on the platform or in the House, have not the gift for microphone controversy.
The Government of the day, whoever it may be, may decide that as long as the evening programme remains at five and a half hours nightly any extension would result in too much time being given to political controversy although the extension could be limited. Caution will be wiser than rash innovation.
I hope that Deputies will appreciate the difficulties.
Summarising all this, everyone in Radio Éireann from the Minister to the scriptwriter, from the director to the youngest engineer, should and I believe does desire to fire the imagination of our listeners, to stimulate their interest in the manifold tapestry of music, literature, folklore, history, art, drama, sociology and political thought which means Ireland.
When Deputies are considering the overall plan submitted for their approval, I would remind them that the development of broadcasting must be part of a long-term policy— improvements must come slowly and continuity in general policy is essential if Radio Éireann is to play an absolutely vital part in the renascence of this nation.
I now come to our proposals for reorganisation.
Since 1926 our broadcasting service has been controlled and operated as a Civil Service sub-department under the Post Office. In the same way as other State Departments, financial control has been exercised in some detail by the Minister for Finance and by the Department of Posts and Telegraphs and its authorities and accountancy system followed the general fairly rigid pattern of the Civil Service.
This system was not suited to a mass entertainment and educational service which had to work by the clock for 364 days of the year. Radio Éireann shuts down only on Good Friday. The difficulties of operating such an organisation on ordinary State Department lines was recognised very early and Ministers for Finance have from time to time delegated financial authority to the Post Office for broadcasting purposes to a greater extent than in other Departments. These delegations have helped to solve some of the problems that beset broadcasting in the earlier years.
The Minister for Finance and the Government have now recognised that far greater financial flexibility is needed to enable broadcasting to run smoothly and to give the public and the State the very varied service which is now expected from it.
Radio Éireann must function with the speed and the vigour of a newspaper.
Apart from an easing of the financial rigidity of the State system, the radio requires scope to give broadcasters wide latitude to express their views. Direct identity with a State Department tends to hamper such freedom because the Department fears that the broadcasters' views may be taken as its own.
With these objects in view, the Government has now approved a fundamental change in the broadcasting organisation. As Deputies know, under the Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1926, the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs has the statutory responsibility for the operation of the broadcasting service.
Two alternatives presented themselves immediately. Broadcasting could be the function of an independent corporation controlled by the issuing of a licence at regular intervals by the Government, a number of powers being reserved such as licence fee, international regulations, policy in regard to programmes in Irish, etc.
This appeared to the Government to be too extreme a measure in a small country such as our own and it was decided that a measure of limited delegation would best serve our purpose for the present.
We can, however, without a change in the legal position of broadcasting, bring arrangements into force which will give many of the advantages of a board or corporation type of organisation and will afford valuable experience as to the flexibility such a body would bring to broadcasting. The results of this already far-reaching change will be a guide if in future a more fundamental legal alteration is still contemplated.
The Government has now approved the setting up of an intermediate type of organisation. The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs will remain in legal control of broadcasting and will continue to be legally responsible to the Oireachtas and to the public for its activities.
It is proposed, however, to appoint a comhairle of five persons who will advise and assist the Minister in the conduct of broadcasting and will be responsible under him for the general control and supervision of the service.
The members of the comhairle will be brought into the public service under Section 10 (2) of the Civil Service Regulation Act, 1924, and broadly speaking they will take the place of the Department of Posts and Telegraphs in assisting the Minister in the framing of policy and carrying on the administration of broadcasting.
The members of the comhairle will give part-time services to broadcasting and there will be part-time remuneration at the rate of £500 per annum for the chairman and £300 per annum for each of the other four members. The period of office of the first council will be two years from 1st January next.
The names of the first council are as follows:—
Charles Brennan, Managing Director Brennan Insurances Limited; General Manager Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurances, Limited; Director Insurance Corporation of Ireland Limited.
Patrick Lynch, Lecturer in Economics, University College, Dublin, and previously Assistant Secretary to the Government and Department of the Taoiseach.
Padraig Mac Con Midhe, Principal Teacher, St. Patrick's Primary School, Holywood, County Down. Mr. Mac Con Midhe is also Lecturer in Irish in St. Mary's College, Belfast; President, St. Brigid's Summer School of Irish, Rannafast; Secretary, Comhaltas Uladh and member of An Coiste Gnótha, Gaelic League. He is a trustee and an ex-president of the Gaelic Athletic Association and he was for long a member of the Broadcasting Advisory Committee.
Seán Ó suilleabháin, Archivist Irish Folklore Commission. Mr. Ó Suilleabháin is the author of standard works on folklore. He has lectured for, and is a member of, a number of learned bodies and has represented this country at cultural congresses in many countries in Europe as well as in the United States.
Theodore William Moody, Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and Professor of Modern History in Dublin University. He is a member of the Irish Manuscripts Commission; a member of the Cultural Relations Committee of Ireland; a member of the Royal Irish Academy and a Fellow of Royal Historical Society. He is joint editor of Irish Historical Studies.
Deputies will appreciate that I have taken note of the fact that successive Governments have tended to ask for the invaluable services of a number of worthy people who can be found on many boards and committees. Because of the special character of the broadcasting service, I have done my best to secure the services of men either young or fairly young, all with some experience of administration or with other first-class qualifications who will be not too burdened by the responsibility of holding other directorships. The period of office, as I have said, is for two years and as the new organisation will be in its initial stage of development no member of the comhairle will object if I say that should there be changes at the end of the first period of office this will be due to the necessity for bringing fresh points of view to the aid of the Minister in the direction of a service in which novelty is a constant need; it will not reflect on any member's competence. As I have said the direction of broadcasting is a vocation and I have used my intuition more than anything else in believing these men to have the administrative gift of providing good management and of co-operating with the director.
I wish also to announce that I am about to promote Mr. Charles Kelly, the present Director of Broadcasting, to the position of Director of Savings in the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. In his new post, Mr. Kelly will be responsible, under the accountant of the Department, for the direction of the Post Office Savings Bank and for the further stimulation of savings by publicity and other means through the medium of the bank and Savings Certificates. The Post Office Savings Bank, which has £56,000,000 to the credit of holders, now form one of the largest banking institutions in the country, and it is essential to have this important post of Director of Savings to strengthen the direction of the bank and certificate service and to enable its facilities to be kept constantly before the public. Mr. Kelly's promotion will take effect as from 1st January. I wish here to thank Mr. Kelly for the services he has rendered to broadcasting as director for four years and previously in other capacities in the station. During Mr. Kelly's period of office there have been many broadcasting developments in the way of recorded programmes, the recruitment of staff, actors, producers and scriptwriters, the development of provincial and studio concerts by the orchestras, and so on. These matters impose a great strain on a director—in fact, the position is recognised to be one of the most difficult in the State service. It is, therefore, a position in which change after an interval of some years could be looked forward to as a normal occurrence. I wish Mr. Kelly every success in his new post.
The direction of broadcasting is, as I have said, a vocation akin to that of an editor or theatrical producer. The Director of Radio Éireann which, in a small organisation like ours, corresponds with the head of a programme service in a larger organisation, should be a professional appointment and have no relation to any other consideration. A director may be able to write programmes within a limited field but his principal quality will be that of the man who can find talent, inspire others to formulate programmes and have the genius to produce an overall programme enjoyable to people of various tastes. A day's programme, as I have said, is something like a newspaper edition but far more difficult to produce.
I am glad to inform the House that, for at least a period of transition from the old to the new broadcasting organisation, we shall secure the services of such a person as director in Mr. Maurice Gorham who will give the Minister and the comhairle the benefit of his wide and varied knowledge and control of broadcasting in Britain and America.
Mr. Gorham comes of well-known Connemara families on both sides. His father was dispensary doctor in Letter-frack. Maurice Gorham, after his education at Stoneyhurst and Oxford and a period in literary and political journalism, joined the B.B.C. in 1926. Among the important and responsible positions he held there were editor of the Radio Times for eight years and Head of Broadcasts to North America, and of Services programme. He initiated the B.B.C. Light Programme and reopened the B.B.C. Television Service in 1946 after the war. Mr. Gorham resigned from the B.B.C. in 1947.
He has written well-known books on broadcasting and television as well as various newspaper and magazine articles and numerous scripts for the B.B.C. While our resources are very small as compared with the B.B.C., and Mr. Gorham knows that to be the position, I am satisfied that his wide knowledge of broadcasting and the ingenuity he must have acquired in solving the problems and difficulties that daily confront programme planners in the large independent broadcasting organisation with which he has been associated will be of immense help to us here in making the most of the resources and talent available in the period of change. Mr. Gorham has agreed to come as temporary director on 1st January next. Perhaps I should say that Mr. Gorham is fully cognisant of Irish conditions.
Mr. Gorham will have as his immediate superiors the comhairle whose names I have already made known, all of whom are steeped in Irish tradition and I am convinced that he will be able to improve the programme along the lines I have indicated and which are so vital to the preservation of our national distinctions.
I explained earlier that there was some want of flexibility on the financial side in trying to operate broadcasting on the lines of the normal Government accountancy system with detailed finance authorities. I am glad to say that the Minister for Finance and the Government have agreed to simplify the broadcasting financial procedure. An annual grant will be made for broadcasting equal to the total of the receipts from licence fees and sponsored programme fees and very wide financial delegations will be given by the Minister for Finance to the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs.
In addition to the annual grant the cost of expensive equipment and buildings to such extent as may be agreed upon by the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs will be provided by subsidy.
No charge will be made against broadcasting in respect of the various services which are at present provided free to broadcasting by the Post Office and other Government Departments.
I should explain that these revised financial arrangements will not add any substantial sum to the amount available for broadcasting, as the various items, such as buildings, equipment and the services rendered by other Government Departments, are at present provided for broadcasting free, by a year to year undefined agreement.
The new arrangements, however, enable the broadcasting authorities to know in advance by an accepted formula the amount of money that will be available in a particular year and they can plan more definitely ahead. The new arrangements will also permit of more freedom to spend whatever annual sum is provided in the annual vote. The money can be used in the most advantageous way and with the necessary expedition without having to watch whether a particular item is covered by a particular authority in a particular form. Consideration is also being given to the question of simplifying the Estimate for Wireless Broadcasting as presented to the Dáil each year with the object of bringing it a little more in line with the type of financial statements provided by semi-State broadcasting organisations. The result will be freedom for instant innovation, freedom to devote funds for new types of service and adequate flexibility in staffing matters.
I have said that the Minister will still be responsible legally for the operation of the broadcasting service, and, of course, as Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, he will have to continue to exercise direct control over such matters as wavelengths and international radio regulations. The Minister and the Government will be actively interested in such matters as the help to be given by broadcasting to the language movement, the scope of advertising programmes, and the principles governing religious broadcasting. Beyond these matters and the laying down of general policy about maintaining a fair balance in political views and policy matters of that sort, it is my intention to give every latitude to the comhairle and the director in the running of the broadcasting service. Indeed, I shall expect them also to help me by their advice in large matters of policy.
There are one or two matters which I propose to ask the comhairle and director to examine as soon as they conveniently can. One is the question of an extension of the hours of service. I feel personally that this should be by way of providing a second programme.
I know we cannot have a full second service on the lines of the B.B.C. Light or Third Programme, but I think that we could have a modest separate transmission from the Dublin and Cork stations perhaps for a short period at week-ends in the beginning.
The second programme should commence about the time the new transmitters are installed in 1953. The comhairle will be able to give me some proposals, I hope, at an early stage as to the type of extension of service that would be suitable and feasible.
As a result of visits to many broadcasting stations abroad, I am convinced that our broadcasting organisation at home needs a considerable overhaul. Technically and artistically, the production of programmes is now a much more complex business than it was even a few short years ago, and it is essential that modern broadcasting organisations should keep abreast of the latest developments, whether in equipment or production technique, to enable them to give that polish to their programmes which makes the difference between merely good and excellent programmes.
Another matter which I am sure the comhairle will examine is that of a broadcasting headquarters. Some extra studios have been practically completed in the General Post Office and the final touches are awaiting the supply of some special furniture through the Office of Public Works. These studios are the limit of the accommodation that can be obtained in the General Post Office. I know that there will be many practical difficulties of magnitude—financial, technical, etc. —in the provision of a headquarters for broadcasting which will prevent its realisation for a very considerable time. The preliminary steps in the matter could, however, be undertaken and I hope that this can be done.
We are the only country in Europe without a fine radio station and if we are to aim at the minimum requirements for a small country, two five-hour programmes on every day, we must build as soon as possible. The building, moreover, should be capable of partial conversion to television later on. The finance for such a building depends, of course, on the capital being available and is a matter of high Government policy. Deputies may take it that Radio Éireann can never play the full part envisaged for it by successive Governments until we have constructed this building. As an incentive to higher standards in every walk of life and in every vocation, the expenditure would, I believe, prove to be of enduring value.
I must refer finally to the wireless licence fee. There was only one small increase in 1940 in the original licence fee of 10/-, that is, to 12/6. A fee of 12/6 a year or 3d. a week is fantastically small when compared with the cost of any other form of entertainment. For that fee, a listener has a choice of numerous performances all over Europe and outside by world famous orchestras, of classical plays or of any other entertainment desired. Such performances could not be heard regularly in a theatre at any fee because of the huge expense. The fee of 12/6 a year, which incidentally is the lowest in Europe, is also entirely out of proportion to present costs. The amount of expenditure from the Wireless Broadcasting Vote for 1939-40—the year before the increase was made from 10/- to 12/6— was approximately £67,000. The expenditure for 1950-51, the latest year for which appropriation accounts are available, was £220,000.
As will be seen from the main Estimate this year, the expenditure is still going up considerably, due to a great extent to increases in salaries and fees. The sum in the Broadcasting Vote does not cover the cost of the services given to broadcasting by other Departments or the cost of buildings and expensive equipment. As I have said, the Government has agreed to provide these services by subsidy.
Licence holders would not at the same time expect the subsidy to extend to the ordinary expenditure from the Broadcasting Vote to provide the daily programmes. If the service is to be extended for a beginning in the manner I have indicated, by a short second programme, the present licence fee will not cover the cost.
The fee must, therefore, be increased. I have not yet decided what the increase should be or the date on which it should begin. I wish to assure the House and licence holders, however, that the higher fee is for the purpose of meeting the cost of improvements in the programmes by way of longer hours or better finished programmes.
Considering that the broadcasting service will still be subsidised heavily for buildings and other matters, I am certain nobody will object to making some extra contribution for the purpose of meeting the cost of actual programme preparation and presentation.
I should mention here that, so far as ultimate programme expansion is concerned, we shall be limited severely by the ultimate potential number of licence holders. The number of households in the country is, as I understand, about 650,000, and the ultimate number of wireless licences will be less than that number. This will certainly limit the degree to which a small country like ours can produce expensive programmes over a long stretch each day.
We shall at the same time continue to do our best to give programmes of as high a standard as the resources given to us by the licence holders will permit. I can put the problem in another way. We can spend a given number of shillings over the 12/6 on the improvement of the existing service and on a short second programme. Above that given increase, we can spend another given number of shillings in providing a double five-hour programme, but for this we need a radio building.
It only remains for me to thank the broadcasting staff for their loyalty and devotion to duty during the year. I wish also to thank the members of the advisory committee for the continuance of their assistance. I had not, of course, an opportunity of expressing my thanks on the main Estimate.