The match I referred to takes place on Saturday week. It is an important rugby match between England and Ireland. When I was Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, one of the tasks I had as President of the Council of Broadcasting Ministers of the European Union was to renegotiate Télévision Sans Frontières. In the course of that, the principle was established that citizens of the EU had the right, free to air, of certain significant events, which were regarded as part of their heritage, including sporting events.
I later sought to establish this by bringing in a Private Members' Bill, which would ensure the same kind of rights to Irish citizens as are available today in Denmark, Italy and the UK. The Minister, in the course of broadcasting legislation announced that she accepted this obligation, but the reality is the failure of my successor, the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, to generate a list of significant sporting events despite the fact that it was required almost five years ago. This means that Irish citizens who are not subscribers to Sky Television will be confined to seeing the score for this match on Irish news programmes. The exclusive rights have been purchased by Mr. Murdoch's Sky Television and they are not available to Irish viewers who are interested in sport. The Department has said it is working on the list. It is a disgrace and an absolute abnegation of responsibility. We are in the midst of an appalling derogation of responsibility in relation to broadcasting. NTL has stopped carrying Eurosport. The whole purpose of the directive which we fought for, namely to retain some semblance of citizens' right to communicate, is being squandered by the Government.
When researching this matter I found that in the Official Record of debates of 30 March 1999, an item on the Adjournment dealt with the Government's unit which monitors the press. In the course of an appeal to the Information Commissioner, an interesting note arose from the director of the press unit. He had sent the Taoiseach a note with a clipping from the News of the World which said: “Taoiseach, our old friends in the News of the World like you. I think I would suggest that you might drop them a note and thank them for their support.” This was after the News of the World came out in favour of the Government. However Rupert Murdoch might rank with the Taoiseach and the Government, it is an absolute scandal that no effort has been made to protect the rights of those interested in seeing sport televised in line with the rights that exist in Italy, Denmark and the United Kingdom. Under the directive and the accommodating legislation, they have listed the events they regard as being of national significance but we have not done so and I want to know why. The match on Saturday week is but the beginning. There will be other international events.
With the decline of the European Broadcasting Union and with other bids in for the World Cup, the next Olympics, etc. this Government and the Minister responsible for broadcasting are accepting a monopoly in broadcasting and are not even exercising the small scope that was there for assuring general access for Irish viewers to events of national significance. It is an absolute scandal. It is a very long journey from Éamon de Valera to Rupert Murdoch. I am sure there are many people who believe in national self respect, identity and the rights of viewers who will be appalled by this first illustration of abdication of responsibility in broaccasting.