Broadcasting Bill

This bill has a number of key features. It will establish a single content regulator for all commercial, community and public service broadcasters in Ireland, to be known as the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI). It will provide a right of reply mechanism to persons whose reputation and good name have been damaged by an assertion of incorrect facts in a television or radio programme. It will extend the public service remit of RTÉ and TG4 and provide for their establishment as limited companies.

The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI)

The new regulator, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI), will encompass the existing regulatory functions of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland, the Broadcasting Complaints Commission and the RTÉ Authority. The BAI will be operationally independent and will be funded primarily by a sectoral levy applicable to all broadcasters in the country.

The draft Bill provides for mechanisms to ensure greater transparency as regards the award of radio licences, and aims to ensure that the new BAI has an adequate range of proportionate enforcement mechanisms available to it.

Right to Reply Mechanism

One of the key provisions of the new Broadcasting Bill is that it will provide for a right of reply wider than that provided for in previous legislation. This provision is intended to provide a proportionate, low cost and expeditious remedy to persons whose reputations have been damaged by an assertion of incorrect facts in a broadcast.

TV Licences

The growth in new and innovative technologies in the broadcast of television services means that this Bill will re-examine the definition of a television set.

RTÉ and TG4

The Broadcasting Bill proposes to extend the existing public service remit of RTÉ and Teilifís na Gaeilge (TG4) to incorporate (i) the broadcasting of public service programming to Irish communities in the UK, (ii) the use of new web-based technologies in delivering on their mandates; and (iii) assisting the relevant public bodies to disseminate information in the event of an emergency.

The Bill also proposes a series of oversight mechanisms to review the level of public funding that is made available to RTÉ and Teilifís na Gaeilge to deliver on their public service remits.

This Bill is the result of several years of careful consideration, through mechanisms such as the Forum on Broadcasting, the Radio Licensing Review and dialogue with the European Commission.

The full version of the Bill can be downloaded here > English Version Irish Version

The e-consultation process finished on 4 October, 2006 and was held at the following website http://econsultation.ie/