I should like to make a few brief remarks on the Department of Posts and Telegraphs. The Minister referred to the 22,000 people on the waiting list for telephones. He does seem to have on his mind, not to say on his conscience, the fact that there are 22,000 people waiting for telephones. Not only in industrial and business circles is this something which reflects little credit on us, and does handicap those businesses, but also in the domestic field it makes a great deal of difference to people's lives, especially people in isolated places and elderly people, to be without telephones. The Minister almost made an apologia on account of the lack of money which he is able to get for capital expenditure. This lack of capital for telephones is something that he himself should remedy. He should make stronger representations to the Cabinet for more money. It reflects neither any great credit on himself nor on the Cabinet that they have not given this very vital money for capital expenditure. We all know that the demands on the Central Fund are great but, at the same time, the need for telecommunications is something which is a great deal more important than many other things.
Having said that, I should like to say that in the main the Department function quite well. One sometimes heard complaints of lack of attention or courtesy in post offices but I do not think that now exists to the extent that it used exist. I have never found anything but politeness and courtesy either on the telephone or in post offices and that is where the people were not at all aware that they were dealing with a Member of Dáil Éireann.
I should like to refer to the speech of Deputy R. Burke. Unfortunately I did not hear a good deal of it but I heard him make a contribution which has rarely if ever been made in quite the same way in connection with broadcasting and television. The strange inter-relationship between news and communications and the Government of the day—whoever they may happen to be—and morals and political opinions or opinions which sometimes border on the political, is a subject which has not been discussed as much as it ought to be either in this House or in this country. Deputy Burke did a very good thing in bringing out some of the difficulties and problems which lie in this particular field.
We have had some almost acrimonious debates here on the question of how far the authority were going against political opinion but they have been from a political point of view mainly and there is an enormous field which really is not political but has to do with our type of society and our treatment of public figures in it who come before the microphone and camera. I do not think RTE are at all the chief offenders in this way. Other broadcasting authorities do it to a greater extent than it is done here but one has seen important people with a national message to deliver being harassed by an interviewer who possibly held different ideological views. It is very difficult to speak on that aspect in this House. It is more a subject for lectures at university or other teaching levels. The public have to be protected against individuals who are broadcasting, even newscasters, slanting these things to suit themselves. This comes out mainly when there is an attack on the Government. The Government react violently. We must remember in this regard that the important thing here is that those broadcasters are attacking our institutions.
This happens to a greater extent in other broadcasting authorities. We get a welter of politics when a political figure is attacked or harassed by a broadcaster. We forget that it is only opinions which are put forward, which may not necessarily be the absolute truth. When individuals speak on some of those programmes they do harm to themselves as well as to the cause about which they have been asked to speak. This matter must always be closely looked on by the RTE Authority. At the same time they must not stifle genuine discussion.
We will probably always have a situation like this in the RTE Authority and it must be faced. It is very important to understand that it is only opinions which are being put forward. This has a greater impact on the public when it is a television interview. Deputies here must help in this regard by trying to see that fair play is given to everybody who appears on a television programme.
I would now like to refer to the RTE Orchestra which belongs to both radio and television. It is a very fine orchestra which has been built up over a number of years. In the view of competent critics it is improving all the time. The RTE Orchestra has an international reputation of a high order. I would like to see it appear more on television. We get it very often on the radio. I am aware that it is not always glamorous to watch somebody playing an oboe or the cello as the sideways movement is not always very graceful. I notice when the orchestra appears on television that the camera moves away very quickly from such instruments. They prefer to show shots of the harp. This is a very beautiful instrument and is lovely to watch. It has to be handled gracefully. The camera usually keeps away from the trombone and some of the wind instruments. A good orchestra is worth listening to and we should see the RTE Orchestra appear on television as often as possible. My wish is that we get more of it. It pleases me greatly to know that the Radio Éireann concerts are supported so well in Dublin and I expect they are strongly supported in the country also. These concerts which are given at the Gaiety are very good and the number of young people who attend them is an indication that music is not the prerogative of a music élite or of any particular age group. Music appeals to citizens of all ages. From reading the papers one realises how much the orchestra is appreciated, too, when it visits centres such as Cork and Limerick.
The help given towards the Wexford Festival is greatly appreciated not only by the people of Wexford but by music lovers from many other places. In these difficult times for our country, when certain sporting events and other meetings have been cancelled because of unnecessary fears, musicians, who one might regard as being rather timid people, flocked to Wexford as usual. Music is carrying for Ireland one of the finest flags that can be carried and one of which we can be proud. I hope that support for the orchestra will always be given. We have heard grumbles from time to time concerning the cost of supporting it but it is a living thing and is as necessary to the cultural life of our country as is our National Gallery and museums and it does not cost a tremendous amount of money.
I should like to turn now to the question of piped television. I noticed yesterday evening that the Minister refused to be drawn on the number of pylons that had been erected throughout the country and around Dublin. I doubt whether he would answer me either if I were to ask him how many have been erected and how many of those erected are in use. I have been told that they have been erected in strategic places so as to prevent commercial concerns choosing these sites. Therefore, there would appear to be a type of dog-in-the-manger attitude; but I hope that is not the case because if people anywhere on the east coast are prepared to erect good aerials, they can receive at least four stations. Therefore, piped television will not have the effect of preventing people viewing the programmes on other stations. In any case it would not be in the national interest to do so. As one cannot build a paper wall around this country, neither can one build a negative electronic wall around it nor is it in any way desirable that that should be done.
Irish nationalism, and by that I mean true nationalism and not the flag-waving type of nationalism, is a plant of stronger growth than merely preventing people from watching the programmes of television stations other than our own. Some of these programmes are viewed for their cultural content while some of the comedy programmes that we see on these other stations are excellent.
Piped television would bring to many people a type of trouble free viewing which for people in certain areas is difficult to obtain at the moment. That goes for RTE also. I am aware of the existence of a pylon which is only a few hundred yards away from a place I know very well. It stands in the grounds of a convent in Mount Merrion but there is nothing either going into or coming from it. I do not know its exact height but it would be capable of permitting superb reception to many people in that area. When I tried to raise this matter earlier I was told that the Minister had no function in the day to day administration of the authority. That is a type of parliamentary cliché because one might ask if he has not any such function, who has? I hope the Minister will look into this particular matter in which Deputy Burke is as interested as I am. Regardless of what the RTE people who conducted a survey in the area may say, I know there is a demand in Mount Merrion for piped television. I hope that piped television will be increased generally. Apart from any other consideration, it would be the means of saving many roofs and would improve greatly the skyline.
There is another matter which I cannot discuss here but which I will put in this way: lest anyone be foolish enough to try to interest the Minister in broadcasting the proceedings of places which do not come under this Vote—it might be guessed that I am referring to this Chamber—I can be counted out. For almost 30 years I was a member of Dublin Corporation. Although that body has been the subject of many attacks it was a very fine body and was staffed by very fine officials. I understand its difficulties and I know its weaknesses. The real work done by councillors in that body was done, in my opinion, at the committees where they met in private, where matters were not judged by a political standard but on the merits of the case. Everyone sitting around those tables in various committees wants to do the very best thing for the citizens; yet when it comes to the monthly meeting, which is in the glare of publicity, to listen to that body you would think they spent all their time wrangling with one another. Therefore, I would be very much afraid that the idea of broadcasting from here or from other places would lead to all sorts of difficulties and might change the face of the assemblies involved, and I would not be in favour of that.
I listen a good deal to RTE sound radio, and having regard to the difficulties of a limited purse, and so on, they do very well; of course, so does RTE television. However, I should like certain types of reports to be at a fixed time. I am not interested in fat stock sales but I know people who are. You have to listen through a welter of Northern voices screaming down the line, and sometimes they are cut off. I am referring specifically to after the half-past one news. You never know at what time the stock exchange prices are going to be presented. In the evening after 6 o'clock frequently they do not appear at all. Whether it is the fault of the stock exchange or the fault of RTE, one is left with the feeling that it was forgotten. If there is a regular feature and it does not appear on a particular day, there should be an explanation. Listeners are not a bunch of children.
Sometimes also you do not get the time signal and somebody will say that it is two and a half minutes after the hour. That is not good enough. A time signal is a time signal. I suppose it is better than nothing to get an explanation or at least a statement that it is now two minutes after the hour, but these signals should be exactly on time.
With those few remarks on the television, the orchestra and the Department generally, I should like to say I find the Post Office officials very helpful. Ringing up out of the blue—they do not know to whom they are speaking—I find I am always treated with courtesy. Our television does a good job considering the limited finances at their disposal and also considering that this is a country of extreme nationalism beside a country of what you might call liberal nationalism; the differences lie in our history. Broadcasting, whether it be sound or television is, as Deputy Burke said, a liberal thing. It cannot be confined, and sometimes therefore, it is hard for our people connected with these media to operate unless they are given the freedom of thought which, of course, Irish people love. They also love a good argument and a good fight. One has only to think of how they enjoy the "Late Late Show" which at times nearly becomes a bear garden. Sometimes I become enraged and would like to throw something at somebody who is saying something of which I do not approve. However, that is democracy, and I think Gay Byrne does a very good job; he gets plenty of kicks but he comes up smiling.
That is a unique show and yet it does not fall into the errors—perhaps that is the wrong word—of that superb show of some years ago but which was in many ways a terrible show, "That Was the Week that Was". I think it pulled the Government down. Perhaps that does not matter, but it did knock many institutions in our Western way of life. Whether that was good or bad I do not know, but the "Late Late Show" provides a Hyde Park Corner outlet, a sort of safety value for some of our extreme views.
Our attitudes to television and broadcasting are changing all the time. It is growing, and it is taking over a part of our life, whether we like it or not. Some of the contributions on television are superb. It can produce plays, psychological through looks rather than words, which can be deeply meaningful. Our small television and broadcasting system has to compete against other systems with almost unlimited money. In the circumstances we can say that they do well. We must give this problem every consideration. We must encourage the personnel of RTE to go ahead with what they are doing while at the same time we must sometimes protect ourselves from them. In the main they are good people who are very skilled. The public and the people controlling the authority must move forward in understanding and learning about this new and wonderful medium now existing in our midst. The Minister has a worthwhile job to do. I wish him well and hope that he continues to keep up the standards which have prevailed in the past.
