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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 15 Dec 1993

Vol. 437 No. 3

Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Section 31 Renewal.

Frances Fitzgerald

Ceist:

5 Ms F. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht the recommendations, if any, he has made to Government in relation to section 31 of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960; if he intends to renew the Order; the decision, if any, arrived at in relation to these proposals; whether he has alternative proposals in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Pat Rabbitte

Ceist:

17 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he has received a submission from RTE on the operation of section 31 of the Broadcasting Act; if he will publish the submission to encourage further debate on this issue; the form of the ministerial order, if any, he will make when the current ministerial order under section 31 expires on 17 January 1994; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Peadar Clohessy

Ceist:

40 Mr. Clohessy asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if the order in relation to section 31 of the Broadcasting Act will be signed; and if so, when.

I am taking Questions Nos. 5, 17 and 40 together.

I would refer the Deputies to my reply to Questions Nos. 3, 15, 26, 43 and 81 on 4 November 1993, columns 1130-1134 of the Official Report of that day, on this issue.

My position has always been that the Order under section 31 (1) of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960, as amended by the Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Act, 1976, was not a matter for automatic renewal. I have indicated that I would be examining the operation of the Order under this section prior to the question of its renewal being considered by Government. I have now completed this examination and have put proposals to Government. In line with standard procedures, I am sure Deputies would agree, it would not be appropriate for me to discuss my proposals before the Government has had the opportunity to considered them.

In the course of my examination, I asked the RTE Authority to let me have the guidelines which they would propose to issue to staff in the event that the Order under section 31 was not renewed next January, and, in relation to matters at present covered under the terms of the current section 31 Order, that the Authority had to comply with the provision of section 18 (1A) of the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960, inserted by section 3 of the Broadcasting Authority (Amendment) Act, 1976.

This section prohibits the Authority, inter alia, from including in any of its broadcats anything which may reasonably be regraded as being likely to promote, or incite to, crime or as tending to undermine the authority of the State.

It would be a matter for the Authority, to decide whether to publish the guidelines under which it would operate in these circumstances. RTE is autonomous in relation to its day-to-day activities under the broadcasting legislation and I have no statutory functions in relation to the content of any guidelines the Authority may issue to its staff in relation to programme matters.

The current order will expire unless renewed on 19 January 1994. The form of any order which might be made under section 31 (1) is governed by the section itself.

I note the Minister is not saying at this stage what his proposals are in relation to section 31. That must be put in the context of today's declaration. My party and I hope that the men of violence will say they will no longer engage in violence and then section 31 will become irrelevant. The Minister mentioned the guidelines RTE propose to issue to staff and I would like to hear his views on those guidelines?

I indicated my views on the issue of guidelines. As Minister with responsibility for broadcasting I have to tread a delicate path in relation to broadcasting matters. I do not interfere with RTE in matter of programming; yet, as part of my review, I had to envisage many different situation, for example, the previous guidelines, guidelines that had been changed but that RTE would wish to put in place. That correspondence between the RTE Authority and myself took place as part of a very thorough review of the whole issue and content of section 31 (1). I am grateful to the Deputy for the sensitivity with which she approached this question, particularly today. I gave a commitment earlier that I would have a review in place in plenty of time for the Government to consider all the issues, including the balance of issues of criminal law, broadcasting legislation and the circumstances of the time. That is now in place and before Government for decision.

I appreciate what the Minister said about not interfering with RTE but surely if the Minister recommended any change he would have to be satisfied that incitement to hatred would not be possible on the air waves and he would have to explain to this House whether he was satisfied. Depending on the response from the Provisional IRA today, section 31 may not be needed.

The Deputy need not be confused in the slightest. I did of course consider this dimension, as I said repeatedly, when I was reviewing the entire issue. In the course of my review I addressed the issue of the legislation which has existed since 1989 on the prohibition against incitement to violence and hatred and so on. It is very important legislation. I reviewed the different relevant sections of the legislation. There is no question of our acting precipitously without considering these issues. I have been criticised for taking the time to thoroughly examine the implications of what is at stake. The advantage of my not automatically renewing the order is that I have been able to place before Government a very thorough review which includes a consideration of guidelines in all possible situations.

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