A new Bill which, if enacted, could see 90 per cent of all programmes on terrestrial TV channels subtitled for the deaf has been proposed by Fine Gael.
The Bill calls for closed captioning of all programmes to be introduced on a phased basis.
The Fine Gael communications spokesman, Mr Simon Coveney TD, said the under the terms of the Bill, by 2004, 60 per cent of programmes and all news bulletins will have to be captioned or subtitled.
The captioning requirement will increase by 10 per cent each year until 90 per cent of all programmes are captioned by 2007.
The proposed bill would see all broadcasters providing closed captioning of all primary news bulletins by the end of next year.
Failing to comply could lead to a fine not exceeding €50,000 or imprisonment for three years, or both.
The Bill will not be debated until the Dáil sits again in September, at the earliest.
It is estimated that up to a fifth of the population are either deaf or suffer some form of hearing loss and would benefit from captioning.
RTÉ currently captions 68 per cent of all peak-time programming, TG4 captions half of shows, while TV3 only captions Coronation Street, Mr Coveney pointed out.
The British government has committed to 100 per cent captioning by 2008, while in the US, the target is to have 95 per cent of programmes subtitled by 2006. Canada already has full captioning of all terrestrial TV programmes.