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Each speech listed here is an edited speech. If you'd like to see the speech or debate in full, please go to the Oireachtas website and click on "Seanad Eireann" and then "Seanad Debates" and click on the relevant date as listed with each speech on this page.
Mobile Phone Radiation (14/07/10)
Role of Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (18/05/10)
Broadcasting Levy (10/03/10)
Broadcasting Levy (09/03/10)
Broadcasting Levy (03/03/10)
Broadband Motion (08/07/09)
Telecommunications Services (25/03/09)
Broadcasting Standards (04/11/08)
Broadband Infrastructure Bill 2008 (22/10/08)
Broadcasting Bill 2008: TV Licences and Prison (25/06/08)
Broadcasting Bill 2008: RTE’s Long-wave Broadcasting (25/06/08)
Broadcasting Bill 2008 RTE LW and MW (18/06/08)
Broadcasting Bill 2008 (28/05/08)
RTÉ Broadcasting (31/01/08)
Motion on Broadband (12/12/07)
Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2006 (03/04/07)
Smart Telecom and Eircom Privatisation (04/10/06)
Broadband (27/09/06)
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Mobile Phone Radiation
14/07/10 - I felt the silly season had opened up full time this morning when I received a Bill from my Kerry colleague, Senator Mark Daly, and the two Green Party Senators that would require mobile phones to carry a sign stating they emit radiation. It reminded me of my youth when people invented luminous watches and the view was that we could all die of radiation poisoning from them. Another view was that florescent lights would make us all bald. This is Luddite scaremongering and I will certainly oppose the Bill left, right and centre. We can do more important things with our time and there are Kerry issues which are more important that this, if I may say so to Senator Daly.
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Role of Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
18/05/10 - ………. the establishment of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland represented a badly needed step forward in public sector appointments. …. I am a member of the joint committee and when the time came for the joint committee to deal with the matter, I met the Fianna Fáil chairperson, Deputy Nolan; the Fine Gael spokesperson, Deputy Coveney, and the Labour Party spokesperson, Deputy McManus. I indicated to them what was happening in other countries and asked that we try to conduct the process differently. I said we should go through a process in such a way that nobody could point the finger at us and say it was not fair. We devised a process which involved the placing of an advertisement in the newspapers, using an outside agency to short-list names and engaging in hard interviews followed by a presentation of the individuals who would be recommended to the full committee in public session. We met the Minister informally and told him what we intended to do. We also told him we did not want to have a big row about the matter, that this would be a model of best practice and that it had never been done before. He said he would check with his Government colleagues. He got back to us and agreed to do it.
It was hugely important that the advertisement was placed in the newspapers, as it attracted people of the highest calibre from all walks of life and the highest levels in the private sector, the arts, broadcasting, public and private, independent and otherwise. I wish I could highlight the quality of the individuals who applied, but I cannot for reasons of confidentiality. The process showed that, first, there was a huge bank of talent available and, second, that there were people who were prepared to make a contribution because they were not applying for the position for the €5,000 or €6,000 they would earn a year.
….. I recall arguing with Senator Walsh on the point that the legislation stated candidates had to have experience or shown capacity in one or more of the 12 areas mentioned which included ….. I said that if I was in charge of the process, I would have indicated that they should have experience in two or three areas because we were only recommending the names of four people. I said I would set a certain number of essential and desirable requirements and short-list names in that way. … That might not have suited some people. Many people would like to ensure some form of cronyism was maintained so that they could propose people for reasons other than best practice and they might not have liked it.
…………. The questions we put to the candidates were along the following lines. We asked them what they would do about the fact that RTE lost €70 million last year. We asked how we would get payment for RTE’s great website, which is possibly the best website in Ireland for news. We asked if they agreed with what Murdoch was doing in charging for content on The Times website. We asked if we could do certain things, whether they would do those things and what their view was on those things. We put those questions to check people had thought through what they would do.
At the very first meeting of the board, it was hit with the issue of the levy on the various radio stations throughout the country and I thought it handled the issue very badly. I say that as one of those involved in the appointment of the board, but at the same time I recognise that it takes time for a board to gel. The members were dealing with a set of figures put in front of them and had to make decisions. It looked like they were up against it and they should probably have said “No” at the time, but they made a decision. In the meantime, they have changed it. I would have confidence in the board. …. The media has been calling for openness in the appointment of State bodies for years. This is openness in practice.
….. We should consider what directions we should give to this board. These will not be about the content of radio stations but about how to create a national broadcasting strategy. Senator Walsh asked whether this could be done by the Department. It could, of course, but the point about the broadcasting authority is that through it one has gone into civic society and, for small money, raided the talent bank of the community to make it work for the State. That is the reason for the authority and why it is important. Perhaps that is not a good idea or people do not want that because it is easier to tighten up, keep a tight fist and let no one interfere.
What the Government has done in the establishment of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is a role model of good practice. It is something for which the Government can take credit. This is an important achievement. The question now is how it will deliver. It will be our responsibility to be a watchdog to ensure it delivers for us at all times. If it does not deliver, it is our responsibility to question, harry and put pressure on it, as we did with the Minister. We argued with him on the question of the broadcast levy. He won the argument, but that is not the point. The point is we engaged and dealt with the issue. I hope and have a vested interest in ensuring the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland does a good job, and I believe it will.
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Broadcasting Levy
10/03/10 - I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to debate an issue I raised yesterday. I hope the Leader of the House will accept the amendment … I also know Members on the other side of the House, certainly of the main Government party, agree with me. My proposal relates to the non-Government motion No. 17, “That the Broadcasting Act 2009 ... Levy Order ... be and is hereby annulled”. The levy — there is a huge increase in the charge — imposes an unacceptable and unfair burden on local radio stations, in particular, at a time when their advertising and other income has dropped by perhaps 50% or more and they have had to cut jobs and reduce their activities and services. It seems to be a daft time to do this. I accept that money needs to be raised and it can be done. However, it should be left to the Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to go through the accounts in order that we will have cogent reasons, proper arguments and a clear understanding of why this needs to be done now, what the new costs are and how the equation to implement these decisions was arrived at.
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Broadcasting Levy
09/03/10 - … a proposal that … the following motion be taken as No. 1 on today’s business or, failing that, added to today’s business: “That the Broadcasting Act 2009 (Section 33) Levy Order 2010 [S.I. No. 7 of 2010] be and is hereby annulled.” The broadcasting industry and local radio stations are on their uppers, having lost 30% and in some cases in excess of 50% of income. Advertising has declined and jobs are being lost. Surely the House would not divide on this issue
... The matter is urgent because the relevant order was signed on 22 January and will enter into force, unless annulled by either side, within 21 days. The 21-day period will elapse tomorrow night. ... The introduction of the levy will result in further job losses and cutbacks in local radio stations. On that basis, I propose my amendment to the Order of Business.
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Broadcasting Levy
03/03/10 - The Broadcasting Act was passed last year and one aspect of it concerns paying for the regulation of local and national radio through a levy imposed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. That is not unusual — it is regular and correct that those being regulated should pay for regulation. However, following the most challenging year in the history of broadcasting, with a reduction in the budget of RTE amounting to €80 million, staff cutbacks and cutbacks in costs, where measures had to be taken to remain in business, it is beyond nature, beggars belief and is completely unfair and inexplicable that the authority has issued a levy to increase costs for local and other radio stations. This order was issued in the last week of January and either of the Houses of the Oireachtas have 21 days to annul it. I ask the support of the Leader and his party in recognising that it if this goes through it will lead to more job losses and cutbacks at local level for local radio and national radio. This is inexplicable, unfair and unacceptable and we should take a stand to recognise what is happening on the ground.
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Broadband Motion
08/07/09 - Broadband releases an intellectual talent. Along the west coast of Ireland in particular it allows people to participate in a global society. It delivers equality. While people might be tied to their homes for cosmetic reasons, it allows them to become part of the global workforce. It
copperfastens the principles in favour of regionalisation. It allows regions to be as important
and accessible as cities. It allows cottage and home industries. People in the west can provide a Chinese translation service and have it delivered in a different time zone first thing tomorrow morning. Research, education of students and social cohesion, through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter
and whatever can be supported only by broadband.
I could go on for hours about this. I know the Minister’s views. I advise him not to get entrenched in the difficulties but to kick ass and ensure this is delivered on time. I do not understand why the Minister has amended the motion. I cannot see that the amended motion differs in any way substantially from what Senator Hannigan proposed. That is another thing that bothers me about how Government works. If the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, had read that before becoming Minister, he would ask why we are doing this.
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Telecommunications Services
25/03/09 - .. in all fairness it takes a brass neck to table this motion. I do not take from the commitment and honesty of my colleagues on the other side of the House. However, it is shameful where we are in the broadband league. Look at where we stand in the OECD league, the European league and the global league. We are down with Zambia and other such countries in terms of our connectivity.
…. this is impacting at all levels. He outlined the possible, probably and potential poor effects on the development of industry. The most significant thing, mentioned in Senator Doherty’s report on the west of Ireland, is that we cannot develop the region without broadband access. Not only can we not develop it, we are losing the intellectual, creative and other abilities which could be distributed through broadband in many parts of the west. That is completely wrong.
Broadband access should be made universally available and should be supported by the State, because it is an investment in the State. It is as important as education. Research depends on it, as does any kind of development. Human contact depends on it. For somebody from the west who wishes to keep in contact with a son or daughter in Sydney, voice-over Internet access is the only cheap way to do it. There are many losses and difficulties, and we are going backwards on this issue.
My suggestion is to make it available at satellite level. It is too expensive for people to pay the full rate for fast broadband speeds, but at least they can get fast download broadband speeds that should be supported by the State in those areas where it is not otherwise available, even though upload speeds are not available there either. There is no solution to this and I do not think speakers on the other side of the House have recognised that. The plan put forward by the Government, Eircom and others means these areas will never get broadband.
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Broadcasting Standards
04/11/08 - Having listened to the debate it seems it is difficult to get the balance right. I do not pretend to know the answers concerning broadcasting standards. …. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, used the word “appropriateness” in his speech, and this raises an important issue. …. A significant benchmark for jokes is that they should be humorous. It is appalling that people would make jokes about a person’s disability as it goes against the spirit of legislation, but perhaps I am just old-fashioned. It is like kicking a man when he is on the ground. That is my view and there is no place for it in society.
When it comes to the portrayal of sex and sexuality on the screen there seems to be different rules. Paedophilia is outlawed and it is a crime to broadcast it. However, pornography, which may not be quite as bad since it deals with adults, can involve exploiting, using and abusing men and women. However, we appear to have no difficulty in addressing such matters.
Several Senators spoke about the importance of satire and it is healthy to have it in society. Reference was made to such programmes in the past as “Ballymagash” or “Scrap Saturday” which provided entertainment. Satire is good and necessary and it is healthy for political life. Political figures should accept it goes with the job. However, accepting satire does not mean dropping all standards. …. A line must be drawn somewhere along the way.
Public figures should be robust and should take, encourage, welcome and not object to robust criticism. However, the way in which we allow for this is important. The same applies to access radio. It involves ordinary people phoning in and saying whatever they wish. These comments go unchecked and unchallenged, without any requirement to back them up or name their source, which is not good for society. While I am in favour of access to radio, if a person puts forward a point of view, the person on the other side has a responsibility to challenge that and make it stand up, which does not happen at the moment. I do not listen much to phone-in shows anymore because the format allows people to run riot. … We must make space for satire, public comment and political criticism. Any censorship must ensure that the media can educate, entertain, inform and, above all, be balanced.
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Broadband Infrastructure Bill 2008
22/10/08 - I thank Senator Ross for asking me to second the Broadband Infrastructure Bill 2008, which is a fine piece of work. … This morning, as I listened to the comments made by the Minister for Education and Science during his visit to China, I wondered how honest he was being with the Chinese people. As a representative of western democracy, did he tell his hosts that schools in Ireland cannot get broadband? Did he mention that over the last ten years, Ireland has dropped down the European information technology league table?
Even though I live just 15 miles from the centre of Dublin, I have accepted that I will never get broadband via the copper wire from Eircom. I used a dial-up service until recently. I have managed to overcome my broadband problems at home. As somebody who avails of various IT structures to do everything, I use broadband all the time. Believe it or not, I now have a full broadband service at home for the first time.
Two parties are affected by access issues — the final end user of the service in his or her house and the party providing the service at the point where it comes from. It is now possible for any house in any place in Ireland, unless it is underground, to receive satellite broadband. If we are to implement Senator Ross’s legislation, all we need to do is help people to get the necessary set-top box or decoder. It is that easy. We should ensure that we do what is needed.
Why are telephone, television and broadband services not provided via satellite, which is the easiest way to do it?I ask the Minister to consider supporting those who want houses, schools and other places to access broadband services in this manner. It meets many of the requirements and targets of Senator Ross’s Bill in an easy way. Not only can people get unlimited broadband under this system, but they can also get a new local telephone number at no extra cost. These issues need to be examined. …The State could save a great deal of money by adopting the approach I am advocating.
Here is an attempt to facilitate what the Minister is trying to achieve. He can disagree with none of Senator Ross’s objectives and targets. I ask the Minister to do the decent thing. If he has difficulties with our Bill, he should take it on board and bring forward all the changes he wants to make to it.
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Broadcasting Bill 2008: TV Licences and Prison
25/06/08 - I move amendment No. 110: …. This amendment concerns the extraordinary situation that exists currently where people can end up in prison for not paying their television licences. The idea that this is still happening is incomprehensible. ….. In tabling this amendment I want to ensure that no person shall be sent to jail as a consequence of any conviction for non-possession of a TV licence.
We should have a long discussion on TV licences, although not now — Members can relax — because I do not know how this is done. I would like to know from the Minister how much we are paying for all the very entertaining advertisements about people calling to the door to check if people have a TV licence and to frighten the rest of us. Who checks if the chaps in Portlaoise Prison with the plasma screens in their cells have a licence?
Can people go into the prison and check the position in that regard? People with no money are ending up in prison because they cannot afford to pay for the licence. I wonder if the inmates in prison with plasma screens have licences. That is a fair question and I would like to know the answer to it because the situation is ridiculous.
Other countries have more sensible ways of collecting TV licence fees. Spending millions of euro every year in advertising and thousands of euro to keep people in prison for not paying their TV licences and then employing huge numbers of people to check and collect makes no sense. Payment should be made directly either through an additional tax which people can opt out of or a million other ways. It is unethical, immoral, uncivilised and unacceptable that people can end up in prison for not having a TV licence.
This system is a nonsense. The Minister should accept this amendment. It makes no difference to him. There are better ways of dealing with the matter. In the other House this morning the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform said that approximately a dozen people were in prison for not paying fines. I do not know how many of those fines referred to TV licences but that kind of situation recurs time and again for people who owe money. It is unacceptable. We should move on, take ourselves out of the dark ages and be a bit more civilised, modern and responsible. I ask the Minister of State to accept the amendment.
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Broadcasting Bill 2008: RTE’s Long-wave Broadcasting
25/06/08 - This amendment concerns the issue of long-wave broadcasting, which is of concern to people who speak for immigrant groups in parts of the United Kingdom and even in northern Europe. It has to do with people who are involved in the GAA in particular who wish to listen to sports broadcasts on a Sunday evening in different parts of the UK. It has to do with parts of Ireland such as northern Donegal and other areas where the reception is very weak. It has to do also with changing over from medium wave to long wave.
The position is that from the foundation of the State we have always had a short wave, long wave, medium wave and FM service. We now have the new digital and other satellite broadcasts coming through, although satellite is also digital in another form. …... We have a licence to broadcast at 50 kilowatts during the daytime but we broadcast at far less than that.
The issue is that we are not using our capacity. For instance, we have the Atlantic 252 long wave service but it is being interfered with every night by Radio Algérienne. Radio Algérienne is broadcasting at about eight times the power of RTE on the long wave station. They are all dealt with under the same international agreement reached in 1975.
I have two letters from the RTE Authority, one of which was written in 2002 and the other in 2008. One of the letters purports to tell me that long wave is not received well in London while the other purports to tell me that long wave is received far better than medium wave in London. Those letters are from the same office in RTE. I am not happy with that.
We are allowed to broadcast at 62.5 kilowatts from 6.30 in the evening until 6.30 in the morning. I cannot find out the reason that is the case. It was not the case when Atlantic 252 was leant by us to Radio Tara when it was broadcasting pop music, and it was well received.
We are broadcasting at well below our power but at the same time there are Irish emigrants in parts of London, north London in particular, who cannot receive it. There was a time I could receive RTE long wave on my car radio in most parts of the UK, particularly near Edinburgh and areas near London, but that is no longer the case. I tried to receive RTE in north London recently but could barely hear it. That is a real difficulty being experienced.
In terms of the night time operation, going back to what my old physics teacher taught me in Dingle years ago, long waves do not travel as well at night whereas medium waves, the shorter wave lengths, travel further at night. That is the reason some people of my age — fewer and fewer as I look around me — would remember Radio Luxembourg broadcasting to Ireland from Luxembourg in the 1960s and the 1970s.
We could receive it only at night when the signal could travel. The reverse was the case with RTE. Broadcasting on medium wave, its reception was much clearer at night than on long wave. Long wave radio needs to have its output and strength increased at night rather than decreased. Why is RTE broadcasting only at 62.5?
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Broadcasting Bill 2008 RTE LW and MW
18/06/08 - This concerns broadcasting and has much to do with the fact we are changing from medium wave to long wave. When RTE decided to kill medium wave and change over to long wave, I supported that approach because long wave is a clearer and better signal than medium wave. At that time, I recognised it would be better.
There was a huge issue for emigrants in Britain in particular, who felt they could no longer listen to GAA matches on a Sunday and various other programmes during the course of a weekend. Although long wave is clearer and one can listen to it on a car radio throughout the UK, the problem is that at night time it is subject to greater interference. I was in the UK some months ago and noticed that in parts where I should have received long wave on my car radio, I could not receive it.
Since then I have discovered something which has made me quite angry, and it is an issue of importance to the GAA, emigrant groups, cultural groups, Irish language groups and so on, namely, reception. I discovered we have capacity to broadcast on long wave at 500 KW. That is the power output that was being sent from the Summerhill transmitter when it was operated by Radio Tara and owned by an independent music broadcaster based in London. Nowadays, apparently, it is only sending out a 250 KW signal which, consequently, cannot be picked up in parts of London.
I feel let down by RTE on this issue. I argued with those who argued against the elimination of medium wave and I stated that long wave was better. Long wave is technically better as long as we are using our output, which we are entitled to do.
I do not want the Minister to come back and tell me that under the terms of the current licence we are only allowed to broadcast at 250 KW. That is not the issue. I am not asking him to be responsible for RTE. I am insisting that we broadcast at full strength where we can. … I feel I have been misled by RTE on this issue. Other groups feel the same. No one has been told until now about the reduction in the transmission output.
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Broadcasting Bill 2008
28/05/08- We often criticise RTE — I am a regular critic myself — but it is important that the State recognise that there are programmes made by RTE that no independent or commercial provider could make or afford to make. I balance this statement by advocating the need for support structures for independent producers at other levels. It is important to recognise the work done by RTE in providing programmes for children and for minorities and by keeping Lyric FM on the go all the time.
When watching coverage of the American elections, I like to see an RTE correspondent speaking from the US. That said, at one point I questioned the reason so many RTE staff were over there during the election campaign, which as an issue pertains to management…… I refer to election coverage and the amount of money RTE puts into it. It places people in every count centre in the country and no commercial station could afford to or would do this. It is important to put on record that Members require RTE to do such things. If it does not do them well, Members criticise it, etc.
Section 114 pertains to the availability of programmes, which relates to another point about RTE, namely, the establishment or maintenance of an emigrants’ channel. While I am in favour of such a measure, I have many questions in this regard. Will it be free to air? I have made this point in the House before but as no one listens, I will make it again and will repeat it ad nauseam. In any part of Europe one can buy a dish and a decoder at no extra cost, with no cards and without a contract with anyone. One can tune into BBC 1, BBC 2, BBC 3, BBC 4, ITV 1, ITV 2, ITV 3 or ITV 4, as well as Cypriot, Maltese and many other stations throughout Europe that are free to air at no cost. However, one cannot tune into RTE. …. There is something completely wrong with this, which goes back to the highly important section 74, which deals with electronic programme guides, EPGs. I support that section. Anyone who wishes to know what this means should try to tune in to something like BBC 4, which is a superb television station, through a Sky control. Sky has made it so difficult it is like getting into heaven or like the rich man passing through the eye of a needle. This is the reason electronic programme guides, which appears to be a highly technical issue, is of great importance.
It is of great importance that independent radio production should be supported. At present that sector receives €500,000 and has asked for it to be increased to €1 million. This assistance should be increased to approximately 3%, which would be more than €1 million. The reason for this is that I love radio. At this time of the afternoon on every week day, BBC Radio 4 broadcasts afternoon theatre…. Radio is a growing part of the communications sector and I ask the Minister of State and his advisers to take on board this issue. Not enough money is available and I do not propose taking it from RTE. Money is available and this simply is a distribution issue. It could be for programmes that might be broadcast or re-broadcast on RTE. However, independent radio production must be supported, cultivated and allowed to develop. It should be a sector in which career option exist, rather than one in which the practitioners try to work from month to month while wondering how to survive in future. These people are creative and are as important to us as are the RTE Players or RTE drama.
I stood up in this House .. to support RTE’s change from medium wave to long-wave broadcasts. I supported the move in good faith…. The reception is better, it has a longer reach and is to be recommended. However, I recently have discovered that RTE is not broadcasting at full power. RTE should be broadcasting at 500 MW but is broadcasting at 250 MW instead. I regret that RTE did not inform Members of this. I was in London recently and tried to pick up long wave but could only barely do so. Moreover, the transmission of RTE long wave is being interfered with by Radio Algeria. This tells one how weak is the Irish broadcast. …. I will table an amendment to ensure it broadcasts at the power it has been granted by the European regulators or the body that hands out station frequencies.
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RTÉ Broadcasting
31/01/08 - The question of the reception abroad of RTE broadcasts is an issue that I have touched on many times in the House. I have a file, two feet high, built up over the past 15 years relating to people looking for short and long wave as well as satellite reception and arguing that RTE is the only national radio station in Europe which is encrypted on satellite, etc. I appreciate the reasons behind Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú’s point yesterday, but I do not agree with his solution. I believe the solution is not and does not need to be to maintain medium wave, which is not a very good reception.
Rather than focusing on RTE maintaining the medium wave service, the Government in its support for emigrant groups in the UK, should provide a long wave radio service to them from Ireland. It would mean they could get a clearer reception, the cost would be small and this is something we could do. We might also examine the possibilities of broadband radio, which is now available for less than €100 and is easier to use than an ordinary radio. … We should support emigrant communities in making better radio reception available rather than trying to maintain the current system.
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Motion on Broadband
12/12/07 - Where does one start with this? I will start by saying that the Government amendment is quite appalling. The fact that, with a straight face, the Government side is asking the Seanad to commend the Government on its work in this area and for its determination to deliver broadband to those areas of Ireland where it is currently uneconomic is appalling. I do not know how any serious punter on that side of the House could have allowed this amendment to go through.
This issue is not being taken seriously. We talk about competitiveness and productivity. Not having access to broadband is like asking workers to work with one hand manacled to the other.
I live maybe 16 or 17 miles from here, which is the centre of power. I cannot get broadband at home. broadband. … As the Minister of State is aware, I am a person who has used technology every day for about 16 or 17 years. I use it all the time. The Minister of State will be aware that I do a podcast in his local area every week. I have a house in a small town in rural France. It is easier for me to send a podcast to Counties Clare and Wexford or elsewhere from a holiday home in a rural area of France than it is from my main residence in County Dublin. There is something daft about that.
Most of the people here represent or live in rural parts of the country. This is killing regional Ireland. It is hitting education in regional Ireland. Every year for the past four years, the Government has talked about rolling out broadband to every primary and post-primary school in the country. Most people think it has been done. It is same problem, namely, connectivity. Schools are not connected so our children are being held back.
Do people in Government recognise that our productivity in the future will be in intellectual add-on? We will not be making bits and pieces in factories anymore. They can do that more cheaply in any part of the world. It is all about intellectual add-on and the knowledge economy. We are at the bottom of the league when it comes to the knowledge that is coming down those pipes on what we used to call the information superhighway but which we now call the World Wide Web or Internet. We used to be proud of our position on these matters but this is no longer the case.
When the Minister of State wore his previous hat, he had to deal with issues like the retraining of workforces and finding new employment for the people in Shannon or elsewhere. A major part of that involves people doing courses via broadband in order that they can retrain, build on their knowledge and get better qualifications. The involvement of outsourcing must be also considered. I visited a Gaeltacht area in Mayo where people wanted to set up an interpretation facility for Gaeilge in Brussels. They had to move the facility in order to get reception.
The day I heard about metropolitan area networks I knew it was the most stupid decision ever made. What were we doing? We do not want metropolitan area networks. Every home in the country needs broadband. The Government should lease satellite space and soak the country in broadband. It should be available to everyone for a reasonable price. That could be effected with one decision. The idea of shooting down lines, fibre optics, cutting up roads and setting up masts is not necessary anymore because technology has moved on. We should recognise this.
There will be a row about unbundling and the quality of lines. Eircom will not bring the quality of its lines up to DSL level because someone else will lease the line to sell the service at a cheaper rate. There is no incentive for Eircom to do this. The only way to improve the situation is by satellite provision immediately to every part of the country. The Government should lease the space, give us an option and a future and bring us into the new century.
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Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2006
03/04/07 - The question of Irish people living abroad accessing Irish broadcasting is a matter of some significance in respect of which the Minister has been supportive in his comments during the years. I am trying to establish the situation regarding access to Irish radio and television for people living elsewhere in Europe, which are shown on the Sky digital system, the Astra satellite. People with digital dishes and decoders and who are living anywhere in the satellite’s footprint in Europe can tune into RTE Radio 1, Radio 2, Lyric FM and Raidió na Gaeltachta without paying Sky. The reception is clear. Recently, Newstalk may have been added.
People’s access abroad does not concern the amendment precisely, but RTE television is encrypted on Sky. Someone without a Sky card who is living in Brussels with a dish on his or her roof and a satellite decoder can tune into free-to-air BBC 1, BBC 2, BBC 3, BBC 4, ITV 1, ITV 2, ITV 3, ITV 4 and the broadcasts of many small countries, such as Cyprus and Malta, but RTE is encrypted. This is a significant loss. ….. It is completely wrong that RTE is encrypted in certain areas. I have written to the RTE Authority to ask why that is the case. The Minister explained it once by talking about copyright issues.
I want to make clear what I am talking about. I accept that if RTE buys .. a…television series for a price that is based on this country’s population, it would not be able to make that programme available to people throughout Europe without running into difficulties. ….. I am not concerned about such programmes, however. I would like home-made programmes like “Prime Time” and news programmes, in respect of which no copyright law other than Irish copyright law arises, to be broadcast overseas. Not only would such broadcasts help Irish people who live abroad to keep in touch, but they would also help to sell this country to people in the wider world who want to know and hear about Ireland.
I welcome the Minister’s recent announcement that RTE is to set up a new channel for emigrants, taking over from what Tara Television was doing when it broadcast into the UK eight or nine years ago. Will the new channel be encrypted? Will it be available on a single platform only? One of the amendments under discussion relates to the need to ensure that television services are available to all of Ireland. The point I am making is that we all should have the same access. This is of huge cultural importance in terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
Issues like access are important. Will the new station that is being put together by RTE be encrypted? Will people have full and easy access to it? Does the Minister acknowledge that such access is important for reasons of culture, economics and growth?
………………
The review provisions are crucially important because it is so hard to keep up with the changes in technology. One can go to the local car park and buy a card to receive various channels. A slingbox allows one to tune into television programming from Ireland on a laptop, irrespective of where in the world one is. The technology is amazing and we must keep up with the game.
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Smart Telecom and Eircom Privatisation
04/10/06) - Is the Leader prepared to arrange an open discussion in this House on the operation of the free market? I was flabbergasted yesterday to hear two decent people — Senator Leyden and a Fine Gael Senator — arguing that the decision to cut off Smart Telecom’s customers was appalling, unfair and should not have been allowed to happen. They said the Government should intervene. I thought we had that debate five or six years ago, when Eircom was privatised.
Perhaps the Minister can explain it further. We knew what was going to happen. We explained to people that there would not be broadband in Belmullet and that they could not expect to get any additional help from the State. I would like Members to understand that those who invest in Babcock & Brown by buying shares in that company — the investors could be from anywhere — do not really care whether a small business in south Dublin or a domestic household in Athlone will suddenly lose their service. That is what it is about. I would say that it is close to hypocrisy if I did not know that those who raised the issue yesterday did so with the best of intentions. I do not accuse them of that at all. We need to understand how the system works.
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Broadband
27/09/06 - The Cathaoirleach probably did not read the Government amendment very closely because he would have ruled it out of order if he had. It is an astonishing amendment. At the very least, I ask the Minister of State to remove the third section, which states: “after a late start Ireland’s rate of broadband take-up is continuing to accelerate”. That is factually incorrect. We were second last in Europe last year and in the same position this year. It is not a matter of take-up but of availability. The Minister of State should not blame the public because there is no problem with take-up when broadband is available. I live 15 miles from here, yet I cannot get broadband. I have a satellite one-way dial-up system which barely works. When I travel around the country, I find that services are hit and miss. Sometimes a 3G data card will work at 3G level but more commonly it is at GPRS or dial-up level. The situation is absolutely appalling but this amendment suggests that the Government is not committed to addressing the issue.
During the debate on the sale of Eircom, I made a similar point about the information super highway, as it was known in those days. I said that I did not see Dr. O’Reilly bringing broadband to Belmullet or Dingle because it would not be worth his while to do so. That is exactly what is happening.
It would be easy to make an always-on up and down broadband service available to every house in Ireland through satellite. I am not impressed by the municipal local area networks because they address the problem only in small towns while using a lot of unnecessary wires. We could provide broadband by satellite if we had the will to do so.
Economic growth is being inhibited and the country is being made less attractive for investors and industry. Crucially, research and development is being hindered. It is also inhibiting postgraduate, particularly postdoctoral, research that is crucial to economic growth in this country. It makes the delivery of public services more expensive and inhibits the development of e-commerce.
The European position is that the use of broadband in the delivery of public services and the development of e-commerce to allow business outsourcing, has a positive impact on regional development, traffic congestion and economic development in the regions. Ireland has signed up to this but nothing is happening because of the lack of broadband. Teleworking, growing at an extraordinary rate in Europe, is inhibited in Ireland because of the lack of broadband. It is preventing women from returning to the workforce.
Some three years ago a commitment was given that every school would be connected to broadband. It cannot happen. I agree that this can only happen through public delivery and private investment. Smart Telecom is an example of how the private sector is unable to deliver because the support structures are not available. Only 16,000 people signed up for its scheme. Smart Telecom was the only company not dependent on Eircom, which is why it needs support.
Some companies have received the franchise to provide broadband to a certain county. Along county borders, neighbours 100 yards away from each other cannot receive broadband from the same company. I have seen examples of this along the Dublin-Meath border.
In seconding the motion, I hope the Government will withdraw the amendment, which is totally irrelevant, and support the motion, which is in line with European demands.
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Seanad debates are available in full on the Oireachtas website
Each speech listed here is an edited speech. If you'd like to see the speech or debate in full, please go to the Oireachtas website and click on "Seanad Eireann" and then "Seanad Debates" and click on the relevant date as listed with each speech on this page.
Mobile Phone Radiation (14/07/10)
Role of Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (18/05/10)
Broadcasting Levy (10/03/10)
Broadcasting Levy (09/03/10)
Broadcasting Levy (03/03/10)
Broadband Motion (08/07/09)
Telecommunications Services (25/03/09)
Broadcasting Standards (04/11/08)
Broadband Infrastructure Bill 2008 (22/10/08)
Broadcasting Bill 2008: TV Licences and Prison (25/06/08)
Broadcasting Bill 2008: RTE’s Long-wave Broadcasting (25/06/08)
Broadcasting Bill 2008 RTE LW and MW (18/06/08)
Broadcasting Bill 2008 (28/05/08)
RTÉ Broadcasting (31/01/08)
Motion on Broadband (12/12/07)
Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2006 (03/04/07)
Smart Telecom and Eircom Privatisation (04/10/06)
Broadband (27/09/06)
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Mobile Phone Radiation
14/07/10 - I felt the silly season had opened up full time this morning when I received a Bill from my Kerry colleague, Senator Mark Daly, and the two Green Party Senators that would require mobile phones to carry a sign stating they emit radiation. It reminded me of my youth when people invented luminous watches and the view was that we could all die of radiation poisoning from them. Another view was that florescent lights would make us all bald. This is Luddite scaremongering and I will certainly oppose the Bill left, right and centre. We can do more important things with our time and there are Kerry issues which are more important that this, if I may say so to Senator Daly.
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Role of Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
18/05/10 - ………. the establishment of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland represented a badly needed step forward in public sector appointments. …. I am a member of the joint committee and when the time came for the joint committee to deal with the matter, I met the Fianna Fáil chairperson, Deputy Nolan; the Fine Gael spokesperson, Deputy Coveney, and the Labour Party spokesperson, Deputy McManus. I indicated to them what was happening in other countries and asked that we try to conduct the process differently. I said we should go through a process in such a way that nobody could point the finger at us and say it was not fair. We devised a process which involved the placing of an advertisement in the newspapers, using an outside agency to short-list names and engaging in hard interviews followed by a presentation of the individuals who would be recommended to the full committee in public session. We met the Minister informally and told him what we intended to do. We also told him we did not want to have a big row about the matter, that this would be a model of best practice and that it had never been done before. He said he would check with his Government colleagues. He got back to us and agreed to do it.
It was hugely important that the advertisement was placed in the newspapers, as it attracted people of the highest calibre from all walks of life and the highest levels in the private sector, the arts, broadcasting, public and private, independent and otherwise. I wish I could highlight the quality of the individuals who applied, but I cannot for reasons of confidentiality. The process showed that, first, there was a huge bank of talent available and, second, that there were people who were prepared to make a contribution because they were not applying for the position for the €5,000 or €6,000 they would earn a year.
….. I recall arguing with Senator Walsh on the point that the legislation stated candidates had to have experience or shown capacity in one or more of the 12 areas mentioned which included ….. I said that if I was in charge of the process, I would have indicated that they should have experience in two or three areas because we were only recommending the names of four people. I said I would set a certain number of essential and desirable requirements and short-list names in that way. … That might not have suited some people. Many people would like to ensure some form of cronyism was maintained so that they could propose people for reasons other than best practice and they might not have liked it.
…………. The questions we put to the candidates were along the following lines. We asked them what they would do about the fact that RTE lost €70 million last year. We asked how we would get payment for RTE’s great website, which is possibly the best website in Ireland for news. We asked if they agreed with what Murdoch was doing in charging for content on The Times website. We asked if we could do certain things, whether they would do those things and what their view was on those things. We put those questions to check people had thought through what they would do.
At the very first meeting of the board, it was hit with the issue of the levy on the various radio stations throughout the country and I thought it handled the issue very badly. I say that as one of those involved in the appointment of the board, but at the same time I recognise that it takes time for a board to gel. The members were dealing with a set of figures put in front of them and had to make decisions. It looked like they were up against it and they should probably have said “No” at the time, but they made a decision. In the meantime, they have changed it. I would have confidence in the board. …. The media has been calling for openness in the appointment of State bodies for years. This is openness in practice.
….. We should consider what directions we should give to this board. These will not be about the content of radio stations but about how to create a national broadcasting strategy. Senator Walsh asked whether this could be done by the Department. It could, of course, but the point about the broadcasting authority is that through it one has gone into civic society and, for small money, raided the talent bank of the community to make it work for the State. That is the reason for the authority and why it is important. Perhaps that is not a good idea or people do not want that because it is easier to tighten up, keep a tight fist and let no one interfere.
What the Government has done in the establishment of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is a role model of good practice. It is something for which the Government can take credit. This is an important achievement. The question now is how it will deliver. It will be our responsibility to be a watchdog to ensure it delivers for us at all times. If it does not deliver, it is our responsibility to question, harry and put pressure on it, as we did with the Minister. We argued with him on the question of the broadcast levy. He won the argument, but that is not the point. The point is we engaged and dealt with the issue. I hope and have a vested interest in ensuring the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland does a good job, and I believe it will.
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Broadcasting Levy
10/03/10 - I propose an amendment to the Order of Business to debate an issue I raised yesterday. I hope the Leader of the House will accept the amendment … I also know Members on the other side of the House, certainly of the main Government party, agree with me. My proposal relates to the non-Government motion No. 17, “That the Broadcasting Act 2009 ... Levy Order ... be and is hereby annulled”. The levy — there is a huge increase in the charge — imposes an unacceptable and unfair burden on local radio stations, in particular, at a time when their advertising and other income has dropped by perhaps 50% or more and they have had to cut jobs and reduce their activities and services. It seems to be a daft time to do this. I accept that money needs to be raised and it can be done. However, it should be left to the Joint Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to go through the accounts in order that we will have cogent reasons, proper arguments and a clear understanding of why this needs to be done now, what the new costs are and how the equation to implement these decisions was arrived at.
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Broadcasting Levy
09/03/10 - … a proposal that … the following motion be taken as No. 1 on today’s business or, failing that, added to today’s business: “That the Broadcasting Act 2009 (Section 33) Levy Order 2010 [S.I. No. 7 of 2010] be and is hereby annulled.” The broadcasting industry and local radio stations are on their uppers, having lost 30% and in some cases in excess of 50% of income. Advertising has declined and jobs are being lost. Surely the House would not divide on this issue
... The matter is urgent because the relevant order was signed on 22 January and will enter into force, unless annulled by either side, within 21 days. The 21-day period will elapse tomorrow night. ... The introduction of the levy will result in further job losses and cutbacks in local radio stations. On that basis, I propose my amendment to the Order of Business.
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Broadcasting Levy
03/03/10 - The Broadcasting Act was passed last year and one aspect of it concerns paying for the regulation of local and national radio through a levy imposed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. That is not unusual — it is regular and correct that those being regulated should pay for regulation. However, following the most challenging year in the history of broadcasting, with a reduction in the budget of RTE amounting to €80 million, staff cutbacks and cutbacks in costs, where measures had to be taken to remain in business, it is beyond nature, beggars belief and is completely unfair and inexplicable that the authority has issued a levy to increase costs for local and other radio stations. This order was issued in the last week of January and either of the Houses of the Oireachtas have 21 days to annul it. I ask the support of the Leader and his party in recognising that it if this goes through it will lead to more job losses and cutbacks at local level for local radio and national radio. This is inexplicable, unfair and unacceptable and we should take a stand to recognise what is happening on the ground.
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Broadband Motion
08/07/09 - Broadband releases an intellectual talent. Along the west coast of Ireland in particular it allows people to participate in a global society. It delivers equality. While people might be tied to their homes for cosmetic reasons, it allows them to become part of the global workforce. It
copperfastens the principles in favour of regionalisation. It allows regions to be as important
and accessible as cities. It allows cottage and home industries. People in the west can provide a Chinese translation service and have it delivered in a different time zone first thing tomorrow morning. Research, education of students and social cohesion, through e-mail, Facebook, Twitter
and whatever can be supported only by broadband.
I could go on for hours about this. I know the Minister’s views. I advise him not to get entrenched in the difficulties but to kick ass and ensure this is delivered on time. I do not understand why the Minister has amended the motion. I cannot see that the amended motion differs in any way substantially from what Senator Hannigan proposed. That is another thing that bothers me about how Government works. If the Minister, Deputy Eamon Ryan, had read that before becoming Minister, he would ask why we are doing this.
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Telecommunications Services
25/03/09 - .. in all fairness it takes a brass neck to table this motion. I do not take from the commitment and honesty of my colleagues on the other side of the House. However, it is shameful where we are in the broadband league. Look at where we stand in the OECD league, the European league and the global league. We are down with Zambia and other such countries in terms of our connectivity.
…. this is impacting at all levels. He outlined the possible, probably and potential poor effects on the development of industry. The most significant thing, mentioned in Senator Doherty’s report on the west of Ireland, is that we cannot develop the region without broadband access. Not only can we not develop it, we are losing the intellectual, creative and other abilities which could be distributed through broadband in many parts of the west. That is completely wrong.
Broadband access should be made universally available and should be supported by the State, because it is an investment in the State. It is as important as education. Research depends on it, as does any kind of development. Human contact depends on it. For somebody from the west who wishes to keep in contact with a son or daughter in Sydney, voice-over Internet access is the only cheap way to do it. There are many losses and difficulties, and we are going backwards on this issue.
My suggestion is to make it available at satellite level. It is too expensive for people to pay the full rate for fast broadband speeds, but at least they can get fast download broadband speeds that should be supported by the State in those areas where it is not otherwise available, even though upload speeds are not available there either. There is no solution to this and I do not think speakers on the other side of the House have recognised that. The plan put forward by the Government, Eircom and others means these areas will never get broadband.
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Broadcasting Standards
04/11/08 - Having listened to the debate it seems it is difficult to get the balance right. I do not pretend to know the answers concerning broadcasting standards. …. The Minister, Deputy Ryan, used the word “appropriateness” in his speech, and this raises an important issue. …. A significant benchmark for jokes is that they should be humorous. It is appalling that people would make jokes about a person’s disability as it goes against the spirit of legislation, but perhaps I am just old-fashioned. It is like kicking a man when he is on the ground. That is my view and there is no place for it in society.
When it comes to the portrayal of sex and sexuality on the screen there seems to be different rules. Paedophilia is outlawed and it is a crime to broadcast it. However, pornography, which may not be quite as bad since it deals with adults, can involve exploiting, using and abusing men and women. However, we appear to have no difficulty in addressing such matters.
Several Senators spoke about the importance of satire and it is healthy to have it in society. Reference was made to such programmes in the past as “Ballymagash” or “Scrap Saturday” which provided entertainment. Satire is good and necessary and it is healthy for political life. Political figures should accept it goes with the job. However, accepting satire does not mean dropping all standards. …. A line must be drawn somewhere along the way.
Public figures should be robust and should take, encourage, welcome and not object to robust criticism. However, the way in which we allow for this is important. The same applies to access radio. It involves ordinary people phoning in and saying whatever they wish. These comments go unchecked and unchallenged, without any requirement to back them up or name their source, which is not good for society. While I am in favour of access to radio, if a person puts forward a point of view, the person on the other side has a responsibility to challenge that and make it stand up, which does not happen at the moment. I do not listen much to phone-in shows anymore because the format allows people to run riot. … We must make space for satire, public comment and political criticism. Any censorship must ensure that the media can educate, entertain, inform and, above all, be balanced.
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Broadband Infrastructure Bill 2008
22/10/08 - I thank Senator Ross for asking me to second the Broadband Infrastructure Bill 2008, which is a fine piece of work. … This morning, as I listened to the comments made by the Minister for Education and Science during his visit to China, I wondered how honest he was being with the Chinese people. As a representative of western democracy, did he tell his hosts that schools in Ireland cannot get broadband? Did he mention that over the last ten years, Ireland has dropped down the European information technology league table?
Even though I live just 15 miles from the centre of Dublin, I have accepted that I will never get broadband via the copper wire from Eircom. I used a dial-up service until recently. I have managed to overcome my broadband problems at home. As somebody who avails of various IT structures to do everything, I use broadband all the time. Believe it or not, I now have a full broadband service at home for the first time.
Two parties are affected by access issues — the final end user of the service in his or her house and the party providing the service at the point where it comes from. It is now possible for any house in any place in Ireland, unless it is underground, to receive satellite broadband. If we are to implement Senator Ross’s legislation, all we need to do is help people to get the necessary set-top box or decoder. It is that easy. We should ensure that we do what is needed.
Why are telephone, television and broadband services not provided via satellite, which is the easiest way to do it?I ask the Minister to consider supporting those who want houses, schools and other places to access broadband services in this manner. It meets many of the requirements and targets of Senator Ross’s Bill in an easy way. Not only can people get unlimited broadband under this system, but they can also get a new local telephone number at no extra cost. These issues need to be examined. …The State could save a great deal of money by adopting the approach I am advocating.
Here is an attempt to facilitate what the Minister is trying to achieve. He can disagree with none of Senator Ross’s objectives and targets. I ask the Minister to do the decent thing. If he has difficulties with our Bill, he should take it on board and bring forward all the changes he wants to make to it.
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Broadcasting Bill 2008: TV Licences and Prison
25/06/08 - I move amendment No. 110: …. This amendment concerns the extraordinary situation that exists currently where people can end up in prison for not paying their television licences. The idea that this is still happening is incomprehensible. ….. In tabling this amendment I want to ensure that no person shall be sent to jail as a consequence of any conviction for non-possession of a TV licence.
We should have a long discussion on TV licences, although not now — Members can relax — because I do not know how this is done. I would like to know from the Minister how much we are paying for all the very entertaining advertisements about people calling to the door to check if people have a TV licence and to frighten the rest of us. Who checks if the chaps in Portlaoise Prison with the plasma screens in their cells have a licence?
Can people go into the prison and check the position in that regard? People with no money are ending up in prison because they cannot afford to pay for the licence. I wonder if the inmates in prison with plasma screens have licences. That is a fair question and I would like to know the answer to it because the situation is ridiculous.
Other countries have more sensible ways of collecting TV licence fees. Spending millions of euro every year in advertising and thousands of euro to keep people in prison for not paying their TV licences and then employing huge numbers of people to check and collect makes no sense. Payment should be made directly either through an additional tax which people can opt out of or a million other ways. It is unethical, immoral, uncivilised and unacceptable that people can end up in prison for not having a TV licence.
This system is a nonsense. The Minister should accept this amendment. It makes no difference to him. There are better ways of dealing with the matter. In the other House this morning the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform said that approximately a dozen people were in prison for not paying fines. I do not know how many of those fines referred to TV licences but that kind of situation recurs time and again for people who owe money. It is unacceptable. We should move on, take ourselves out of the dark ages and be a bit more civilised, modern and responsible. I ask the Minister of State to accept the amendment.
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Broadcasting Bill 2008: RTE’s Long-wave Broadcasting
25/06/08 - This amendment concerns the issue of long-wave broadcasting, which is of concern to people who speak for immigrant groups in parts of the United Kingdom and even in northern Europe. It has to do with people who are involved in the GAA in particular who wish to listen to sports broadcasts on a Sunday evening in different parts of the UK. It has to do with parts of Ireland such as northern Donegal and other areas where the reception is very weak. It has to do also with changing over from medium wave to long wave.
The position is that from the foundation of the State we have always had a short wave, long wave, medium wave and FM service. We now have the new digital and other satellite broadcasts coming through, although satellite is also digital in another form. …... We have a licence to broadcast at 50 kilowatts during the daytime but we broadcast at far less than that.
The issue is that we are not using our capacity. For instance, we have the Atlantic 252 long wave service but it is being interfered with every night by Radio Algérienne. Radio Algérienne is broadcasting at about eight times the power of RTE on the long wave station. They are all dealt with under the same international agreement reached in 1975.
I have two letters from the RTE Authority, one of which was written in 2002 and the other in 2008. One of the letters purports to tell me that long wave is not received well in London while the other purports to tell me that long wave is received far better than medium wave in London. Those letters are from the same office in RTE. I am not happy with that.
We are allowed to broadcast at 62.5 kilowatts from 6.30 in the evening until 6.30 in the morning. I cannot find out the reason that is the case. It was not the case when Atlantic 252 was leant by us to Radio Tara when it was broadcasting pop music, and it was well received.
We are broadcasting at well below our power but at the same time there are Irish emigrants in parts of London, north London in particular, who cannot receive it. There was a time I could receive RTE long wave on my car radio in most parts of the UK, particularly near Edinburgh and areas near London, but that is no longer the case. I tried to receive RTE in north London recently but could barely hear it. That is a real difficulty being experienced.
In terms of the night time operation, going back to what my old physics teacher taught me in Dingle years ago, long waves do not travel as well at night whereas medium waves, the shorter wave lengths, travel further at night. That is the reason some people of my age — fewer and fewer as I look around me — would remember Radio Luxembourg broadcasting to Ireland from Luxembourg in the 1960s and the 1970s.
We could receive it only at night when the signal could travel. The reverse was the case with RTE. Broadcasting on medium wave, its reception was much clearer at night than on long wave. Long wave radio needs to have its output and strength increased at night rather than decreased. Why is RTE broadcasting only at 62.5?
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Broadcasting Bill 2008 RTE LW and MW
18/06/08 - This concerns broadcasting and has much to do with the fact we are changing from medium wave to long wave. When RTE decided to kill medium wave and change over to long wave, I supported that approach because long wave is a clearer and better signal than medium wave. At that time, I recognised it would be better.
There was a huge issue for emigrants in Britain in particular, who felt they could no longer listen to GAA matches on a Sunday and various other programmes during the course of a weekend. Although long wave is clearer and one can listen to it on a car radio throughout the UK, the problem is that at night time it is subject to greater interference. I was in the UK some months ago and noticed that in parts where I should have received long wave on my car radio, I could not receive it.
Since then I have discovered something which has made me quite angry, and it is an issue of importance to the GAA, emigrant groups, cultural groups, Irish language groups and so on, namely, reception. I discovered we have capacity to broadcast on long wave at 500 KW. That is the power output that was being sent from the Summerhill transmitter when it was operated by Radio Tara and owned by an independent music broadcaster based in London. Nowadays, apparently, it is only sending out a 250 KW signal which, consequently, cannot be picked up in parts of London.
I feel let down by RTE on this issue. I argued with those who argued against the elimination of medium wave and I stated that long wave was better. Long wave is technically better as long as we are using our output, which we are entitled to do.
I do not want the Minister to come back and tell me that under the terms of the current licence we are only allowed to broadcast at 250 KW. That is not the issue. I am not asking him to be responsible for RTE. I am insisting that we broadcast at full strength where we can. … I feel I have been misled by RTE on this issue. Other groups feel the same. No one has been told until now about the reduction in the transmission output.
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Broadcasting Bill 2008
28/05/08- We often criticise RTE — I am a regular critic myself — but it is important that the State recognise that there are programmes made by RTE that no independent or commercial provider could make or afford to make. I balance this statement by advocating the need for support structures for independent producers at other levels. It is important to recognise the work done by RTE in providing programmes for children and for minorities and by keeping Lyric FM on the go all the time.
When watching coverage of the American elections, I like to see an RTE correspondent speaking from the US. That said, at one point I questioned the reason so many RTE staff were over there during the election campaign, which as an issue pertains to management…… I refer to election coverage and the amount of money RTE puts into it. It places people in every count centre in the country and no commercial station could afford to or would do this. It is important to put on record that Members require RTE to do such things. If it does not do them well, Members criticise it, etc.
Section 114 pertains to the availability of programmes, which relates to another point about RTE, namely, the establishment or maintenance of an emigrants’ channel. While I am in favour of such a measure, I have many questions in this regard. Will it be free to air? I have made this point in the House before but as no one listens, I will make it again and will repeat it ad nauseam. In any part of Europe one can buy a dish and a decoder at no extra cost, with no cards and without a contract with anyone. One can tune into BBC 1, BBC 2, BBC 3, BBC 4, ITV 1, ITV 2, ITV 3 or ITV 4, as well as Cypriot, Maltese and many other stations throughout Europe that are free to air at no cost. However, one cannot tune into RTE. …. There is something completely wrong with this, which goes back to the highly important section 74, which deals with electronic programme guides, EPGs. I support that section. Anyone who wishes to know what this means should try to tune in to something like BBC 4, which is a superb television station, through a Sky control. Sky has made it so difficult it is like getting into heaven or like the rich man passing through the eye of a needle. This is the reason electronic programme guides, which appears to be a highly technical issue, is of great importance.
It is of great importance that independent radio production should be supported. At present that sector receives €500,000 and has asked for it to be increased to €1 million. This assistance should be increased to approximately 3%, which would be more than €1 million. The reason for this is that I love radio. At this time of the afternoon on every week day, BBC Radio 4 broadcasts afternoon theatre…. Radio is a growing part of the communications sector and I ask the Minister of State and his advisers to take on board this issue. Not enough money is available and I do not propose taking it from RTE. Money is available and this simply is a distribution issue. It could be for programmes that might be broadcast or re-broadcast on RTE. However, independent radio production must be supported, cultivated and allowed to develop. It should be a sector in which career option exist, rather than one in which the practitioners try to work from month to month while wondering how to survive in future. These people are creative and are as important to us as are the RTE Players or RTE drama.
I stood up in this House .. to support RTE’s change from medium wave to long-wave broadcasts. I supported the move in good faith…. The reception is better, it has a longer reach and is to be recommended. However, I recently have discovered that RTE is not broadcasting at full power. RTE should be broadcasting at 500 MW but is broadcasting at 250 MW instead. I regret that RTE did not inform Members of this. I was in London recently and tried to pick up long wave but could only barely do so. Moreover, the transmission of RTE long wave is being interfered with by Radio Algeria. This tells one how weak is the Irish broadcast. …. I will table an amendment to ensure it broadcasts at the power it has been granted by the European regulators or the body that hands out station frequencies.
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RTÉ Broadcasting
31/01/08 - The question of the reception abroad of RTE broadcasts is an issue that I have touched on many times in the House. I have a file, two feet high, built up over the past 15 years relating to people looking for short and long wave as well as satellite reception and arguing that RTE is the only national radio station in Europe which is encrypted on satellite, etc. I appreciate the reasons behind Senator Labhrás Ó Murchú’s point yesterday, but I do not agree with his solution. I believe the solution is not and does not need to be to maintain medium wave, which is not a very good reception.
Rather than focusing on RTE maintaining the medium wave service, the Government in its support for emigrant groups in the UK, should provide a long wave radio service to them from Ireland. It would mean they could get a clearer reception, the cost would be small and this is something we could do. We might also examine the possibilities of broadband radio, which is now available for less than €100 and is easier to use than an ordinary radio. … We should support emigrant communities in making better radio reception available rather than trying to maintain the current system.
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Motion on Broadband
12/12/07 - Where does one start with this? I will start by saying that the Government amendment is quite appalling. The fact that, with a straight face, the Government side is asking the Seanad to commend the Government on its work in this area and for its determination to deliver broadband to those areas of Ireland where it is currently uneconomic is appalling. I do not know how any serious punter on that side of the House could have allowed this amendment to go through.
This issue is not being taken seriously. We talk about competitiveness and productivity. Not having access to broadband is like asking workers to work with one hand manacled to the other.
I live maybe 16 or 17 miles from here, which is the centre of power. I cannot get broadband at home. broadband. … As the Minister of State is aware, I am a person who has used technology every day for about 16 or 17 years. I use it all the time. The Minister of State will be aware that I do a podcast in his local area every week. I have a house in a small town in rural France. It is easier for me to send a podcast to Counties Clare and Wexford or elsewhere from a holiday home in a rural area of France than it is from my main residence in County Dublin. There is something daft about that.
Most of the people here represent or live in rural parts of the country. This is killing regional Ireland. It is hitting education in regional Ireland. Every year for the past four years, the Government has talked about rolling out broadband to every primary and post-primary school in the country. Most people think it has been done. It is same problem, namely, connectivity. Schools are not connected so our children are being held back.
Do people in Government recognise that our productivity in the future will be in intellectual add-on? We will not be making bits and pieces in factories anymore. They can do that more cheaply in any part of the world. It is all about intellectual add-on and the knowledge economy. We are at the bottom of the league when it comes to the knowledge that is coming down those pipes on what we used to call the information superhighway but which we now call the World Wide Web or Internet. We used to be proud of our position on these matters but this is no longer the case.
When the Minister of State wore his previous hat, he had to deal with issues like the retraining of workforces and finding new employment for the people in Shannon or elsewhere. A major part of that involves people doing courses via broadband in order that they can retrain, build on their knowledge and get better qualifications. The involvement of outsourcing must be also considered. I visited a Gaeltacht area in Mayo where people wanted to set up an interpretation facility for Gaeilge in Brussels. They had to move the facility in order to get reception.
The day I heard about metropolitan area networks I knew it was the most stupid decision ever made. What were we doing? We do not want metropolitan area networks. Every home in the country needs broadband. The Government should lease satellite space and soak the country in broadband. It should be available to everyone for a reasonable price. That could be effected with one decision. The idea of shooting down lines, fibre optics, cutting up roads and setting up masts is not necessary anymore because technology has moved on. We should recognise this.
There will be a row about unbundling and the quality of lines. Eircom will not bring the quality of its lines up to DSL level because someone else will lease the line to sell the service at a cheaper rate. There is no incentive for Eircom to do this. The only way to improve the situation is by satellite provision immediately to every part of the country. The Government should lease the space, give us an option and a future and bring us into the new century.
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Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2006
03/04/07 - The question of Irish people living abroad accessing Irish broadcasting is a matter of some significance in respect of which the Minister has been supportive in his comments during the years. I am trying to establish the situation regarding access to Irish radio and television for people living elsewhere in Europe, which are shown on the Sky digital system, the Astra satellite. People with digital dishes and decoders and who are living anywhere in the satellite’s footprint in Europe can tune into RTE Radio 1, Radio 2, Lyric FM and Raidió na Gaeltachta without paying Sky. The reception is clear. Recently, Newstalk may have been added.
People’s access abroad does not concern the amendment precisely, but RTE television is encrypted on Sky. Someone without a Sky card who is living in Brussels with a dish on his or her roof and a satellite decoder can tune into free-to-air BBC 1, BBC 2, BBC 3, BBC 4, ITV 1, ITV 2, ITV 3, ITV 4 and the broadcasts of many small countries, such as Cyprus and Malta, but RTE is encrypted. This is a significant loss. ….. It is completely wrong that RTE is encrypted in certain areas. I have written to the RTE Authority to ask why that is the case. The Minister explained it once by talking about copyright issues.
I want to make clear what I am talking about. I accept that if RTE buys .. a…television series for a price that is based on this country’s population, it would not be able to make that programme available to people throughout Europe without running into difficulties. ….. I am not concerned about such programmes, however. I would like home-made programmes like “Prime Time” and news programmes, in respect of which no copyright law other than Irish copyright law arises, to be broadcast overseas. Not only would such broadcasts help Irish people who live abroad to keep in touch, but they would also help to sell this country to people in the wider world who want to know and hear about Ireland.
I welcome the Minister’s recent announcement that RTE is to set up a new channel for emigrants, taking over from what Tara Television was doing when it broadcast into the UK eight or nine years ago. Will the new channel be encrypted? Will it be available on a single platform only? One of the amendments under discussion relates to the need to ensure that television services are available to all of Ireland. The point I am making is that we all should have the same access. This is of huge cultural importance in terms of the Good Friday Agreement.
Issues like access are important. Will the new station that is being put together by RTE be encrypted? Will people have full and easy access to it? Does the Minister acknowledge that such access is important for reasons of culture, economics and growth?
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The review provisions are crucially important because it is so hard to keep up with the changes in technology. One can go to the local car park and buy a card to receive various channels. A slingbox allows one to tune into television programming from Ireland on a laptop, irrespective of where in the world one is. The technology is amazing and we must keep up with the game.
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Smart Telecom and Eircom Privatisation
04/10/06) - Is the Leader prepared to arrange an open discussion in this House on the operation of the free market? I was flabbergasted yesterday to hear two decent people — Senator Leyden and a Fine Gael Senator — arguing that the decision to cut off Smart Telecom’s customers was appalling, unfair and should not have been allowed to happen. They said the Government should intervene. I thought we had that debate five or six years ago, when Eircom was privatised.
Perhaps the Minister can explain it further. We knew what was going to happen. We explained to people that there would not be broadband in Belmullet and that they could not expect to get any additional help from the State. I would like Members to understand that those who invest in Babcock & Brown by buying shares in that company — the investors could be from anywhere — do not really care whether a small business in south Dublin or a domestic household in Athlone will suddenly lose their service. That is what it is about. I would say that it is close to hypocrisy if I did not know that those who raised the issue yesterday did so with the best of intentions. I do not accuse them of that at all. We need to understand how the system works.
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Broadband
27/09/06 - The Cathaoirleach probably did not read the Government amendment very closely because he would have ruled it out of order if he had. It is an astonishing amendment. At the very least, I ask the Minister of State to remove the third section, which states: “after a late start Ireland’s rate of broadband take-up is continuing to accelerate”. That is factually incorrect. We were second last in Europe last year and in the same position this year. It is not a matter of take-up but of availability. The Minister of State should not blame the public because there is no problem with take-up when broadband is available. I live 15 miles from here, yet I cannot get broadband. I have a satellite one-way dial-up system which barely works. When I travel around the country, I find that services are hit and miss. Sometimes a 3G data card will work at 3G level but more commonly it is at GPRS or dial-up level. The situation is absolutely appalling but this amendment suggests that the Government is not committed to addressing the issue.
During the debate on the sale of Eircom, I made a similar point about the information super highway, as it was known in those days. I said that I did not see Dr. O’Reilly bringing broadband to Belmullet or Dingle because it would not be worth his while to do so. That is exactly what is happening.
It would be easy to make an always-on up and down broadband service available to every house in Ireland through satellite. I am not impressed by the municipal local area networks because they address the problem only in small towns while using a lot of unnecessary wires. We could provide broadband by satellite if we had the will to do so.
Economic growth is being inhibited and the country is being made less attractive for investors and industry. Crucially, research and development is being hindered. It is also inhibiting postgraduate, particularly postdoctoral, research that is crucial to economic growth in this country. It makes the delivery of public services more expensive and inhibits the development of e-commerce.
The European position is that the use of broadband in the delivery of public services and the development of e-commerce to allow business outsourcing, has a positive impact on regional development, traffic congestion and economic development in the regions. Ireland has signed up to this but nothing is happening because of the lack of broadband. Teleworking, growing at an extraordinary rate in Europe, is inhibited in Ireland because of the lack of broadband. It is preventing women from returning to the workforce.
Some three years ago a commitment was given that every school would be connected to broadband. It cannot happen. I agree that this can only happen through public delivery and private investment. Smart Telecom is an example of how the private sector is unable to deliver because the support structures are not available. Only 16,000 people signed up for its scheme. Smart Telecom was the only company not dependent on Eircom, which is why it needs support.
Some companies have received the franchise to provide broadband to a certain county. Along county borders, neighbours 100 yards away from each other cannot receive broadband from the same company. I have seen examples of this along the Dublin-Meath border.
In seconding the motion, I hope the Government will withdraw the amendment, which is totally irrelevant, and support the motion, which is in line with European demands.
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