Vol. 427 No. 6
13 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht his views on Section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960; if he plans to undertake any review of the Ministerial Orders made under Section 31; if he will amend the Broadcasting Acts so that a positive motion of approval by Dail Éireann would be required to extend the operation of the Ministers Order beyond 12 months; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
14 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he intends to introduce amending legislation pertaining to Section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
31 Mr. Noonan (Limerick East) asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he intends introducing a motion to repeal the Order extending Section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960 for a further twelve months; and, if not, if he will renew the Order relevant to Section 31 of this Act in January 1994.
Tógfaidh mé Ceisteanna 13, 14 agus 31 le chéile.
The current Order under section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960, was made on 6 January 1993, came into effect on 20 January 1993 and is due to expire on 19 January 1994. Section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960, does not empower the Minister to modify or suspend an existing order under the section while it remains in force.
It is no secret that I have little enthusiasm for restrictions on broadcasters in the coverage of news and current affairs. The issue of the renewal or otherwise of the section 31 order is complex in regard to the central issue of the restrictions themselves and to the timing and perceptions of any change in policy which might be contemplated. It is an issue to which I will be devoting careful consideration in conjuction with my Government colleagues at the appropriate time.
I will also be giving careful consideration to the appropriateness in current circumstances of the provisions of section 31 itself, which were enshrined in legislation 17 years ago, when formulating my proposals for broadcasting structures in the long term.
As the Minister has indirectly pointed out, there has been no debate on section 31 for the past 16 years despite the fact that it has been renewed every year since it was amended 16 years ago. Would the Minister undertake to provide some opportunity for the House to debate this matter before the time for renewal comes around again at the end of this year, bearing in mind that the House will probably go into recess by the middle of December and will not return until after this order is renewed once more?
Let me also put it to the Minister that circumstances have changed fairly significantly in that at the time section 31 was introduced in its amended form 16 years ago we did not have an Incitement to Hatred Act which now precludes people from going on radio or television or writing in the newspapers to publicly incite people to acts of violence because of religion or politics.
The points raised by the Deputy are certainly points that should be borne in mind. I will be reviewing section 31, particularly in terms of its broadcasting impact and appropriateness, when I am reviewing the whole structure of broadcasting. I intend to do that as quickly as possible given that, as the House will appreciate, I have been very busy for the last few weeks and moving with great speed.
(Carlow-Kilkenny): Especially in regard to Mullaghmore.
I will certainly take into account the matters raised by the Deputy when I am doing my broadcasting review. If, however, greater urgency attached to it, there is nothing to stop Deputies from the other side of the House initiating a debate in their own allocation of time.
The Minister was moving with such speed his colleagues became dizzy.
I appreciate the Minister's invitation to use Private Members' time to debate this issue, but it is not an answer to the question of the need to have this matter debated in depth by the House. Having it debated in Private Members' time risks posturing of one kind or another. Perhaps the Minister would consider establishing a secondary legislation committee which would review not just this regulation but the many hundreds of regulations automatically made by this House every year without any debate.
I would also draw the Minister's attention to the fact that the practice in Northern Ireland where a similar restriction applies is that people who would be restricted from speaking on political matters in the North on BBC or UTV are not prevented from speaking on trade union matters or local government matters. That is one reform the Minister could make with regard to section 31.
My inclination is to provide an opportunity for a thorough and wide ranging debate when I am reviewing broadcasting. On the second matter raised by Deputy De Rossa, apart from the general issue, there is the specific issue of practice which again is a point that needs to be looked at. I am conscious that the question of the Minister with responsibility for broadcasting interfering in a programming function should be treated with the greatest of care; programming function is exercised by RTE. There are, in turn, matters of the actual exercise of that function which are being resolved by the courts. Certainly when I come to review the whole question of the general principle and its operations I will be affording Deputies plenty of opportunity of addressing that and other issues.
Let us now deal with other questions to the same Minister.
