Broadcasting Bill would require provision for emigrants

The Oireachtas Communications Committee has been holding public hearings over the last two days over the proposed Broadcasting Bill. Of interest to emigrants is the section of the bill that would require RTÉ to provide TV to Irish communities abroad; the legislation allows for the use of license funding for this purpose.

The programming would have to be reflective of RTE One and Two, as well as Irish-language channel TG4.

In announcing the publication of the bill last month, Communications Minister Noel Dempsey Dempsey said:

It is intended that RTÉ will produce a service that reflects and represents the content of the channels currently available in Ireland - RTÉ1, RTÉ2 and TG4 will contribute to this service. This service will now be a fundamental part of RTÉ’s remit. The 2002 Report of the Task Force on policy regarding emigrants noted that the issue of contact with Ireland and the desire for information about contemporary Ireland is very important to Irish communities abroad, particularly the elderly. The Task Force recommend that consideration be given to developing the role of television as a contact point for the Irish abroad and that funding be made available for the provision of such a service.

The webcast meeting archive is online at econsultation.ie.

More information and a link to the public discussion forum are also online at econsultation.ie. The discussion forum will run until January 24.

See the broadcasting bill at Oireachtas.ie. (Section 3 is the one relating to broadcasting to emigrants.)