Vol. 518 No. 3
231 Mr. Lawlor asked the Minister for Arts, Heritage Gaeltacht and the Islands if the ban on the advertising of religious publications by the Independent Radio and Television Commission will be set aside in the final legislative content of the Broadcasting Bill, 1999, in view of the understandable concerns and difficulties imposed on the forward planning of advertising or promotional campaigns for those affected. [11353/00]
I refer the Deputy to my contribution on 4 November 1999 to the Second Stage debate on the Broadcasting Bill, 1999, when I confirmed my intention to bring forward a Committee Stage amendment designed to relax the existing blanket statutory prohibition on the broadcasting of advertisements directed towards a religious end. Specifically, it is my intention that the proposed amendment will provide that the broadcasting of a notice of the sale of religious newspapers and magazines or of the time and place of a religious event, where the language of the notice is neutral and does not engage in proselytism, will not come within the scope of the prohibition.
