Social inclusion as a core element of the Public Service Charter is not an option, it is an imperative, writes Dermot Ahern.
The draft Public Service Charter which I launched 10 days ago is based on a simple premise, that the Irish public owns RTÉ, and RTÉ exists to serve the Irish public.
This same premise underlies the series of public service broadcasting reforms I have introduced since December.
It is a given to me that RTÉ, like public representatives and the Civil and Public Services, must be fully accountable to the public it serves.
This simple position has drawn the ire of some, not least Mr Wesley Boyd who, writing in this newspaper on Friday, asserted that in the public service reforms to date, and specifically in the draft charter, I am asking too much of RTÉ.
I would draw Mr Boyd's attention to the UK, Swedish or New Zealand charters, which are equally demanding of their public service broadcasters.
The draft charter sets out RTÉ's guiding principles. It spells out RTÉ's commitment to public service and asserts clearly that RTÉ must serve the democratic, social and cultural needs of Irish society and the need to preserve media pluralism.
Mr Boyd takes great umbrage at my insertion of a section urging RTÉ to ensure that "news reporting and public affairs coverage shall be taken from a variety of perspectives; events should not be assessed and reported from a Dublin perspective alone." Similar commitments to a regional news coverage clause are to be found in the Swedish Charter for Television Broadcasting Services. Indeed, the sections demanding regional balance and coverage are standard internationally. The UK Communications Bill, for example, contains the specific requirement for "an appropriate range and proportion of programmes made outside the M25 area".
To assert that my desire to promote regional coverage - a desire shared by RTÉ - is a by-product of some political conspiracy theory whereby "politicians still suspect programmes are controlled by Dublin 4 anti-establishment effete liberals" is simply baseless.
The inclusion in the draft charter of the contention that news reporting and public affairs coverage should be taken from a variety of perspectives, that events should not be reported from the Dublin perspective only and that, in general, RTÉ programming should reflect our regional diversities as a nation is a fair demand. A balanced focus on the regions, in my mind, is legitimate and desirable.
Another area I insisted on including in the draft charter was the assertion that RTÉ programming be socially inclusive and that it reflect the lives and concerns of all social strata in Ireland equally. I have been criticised for being too "politically correct" here, for attempting to neuter RTÉ with demands that it reflect everyone, all of the time. This is not the case.
In my mind social inclusion is not an option, it is an imperative. Its inclusion in the draft charter is eminently defensible. As broadcast media worldwide converge upon culturally homogenous production, it is clear that we need quality home-grown public service broadcasting to reflect and serve all social strata in Ireland today.
This globalisation of broadcasting content and the growth of the transnational broadcasting platform presents specific challenges for small countries such as Ireland.
It is apparent to me, at least, that our national broadcasting regulators are simply not equipped to deal with the era of transnational broadcasting and communications platforms.
Specifically, the ability of broadcasters from other states to beam advertising directed specifically at this market has become a key issue. These advertisements are not subject to domestic regulation. This is a key obstacle in our attempts to regulate advertisements aimed at minors, for example.
In Ireland's submission to the European Commission on the Television Without Frontiers Directive, we have sought to rectify this position by advocating that broadcasters currently not subject to regulation in countries outside their broadcasting headquarters should come under the jurisdiction of member-states into which they provide targeted television channels that are meant for reception only in that member-state.
Other challenges include the BBC's decision to broadcast unencrypted on satellite which, if other UK broadcasters follow, will have serious implications for us in terms of rights issues and the position of Irish broadcasters on the EPG.
I have agreed to work with the broadcasters to find a solution to the Freesat issue. In my view, however, any solution must be as good for the consumer as for broadcasters. I am specifically ruling out approaching my UK counterpart seeking some form of encryption or charge for Irish consumers for this free-to-air service.
As someone born and bred close to the Border, in multi-channel land, I would consider it ludicrous to place an artificial financial barrier on Irish audiences.
Despite the issues of Freesat and transnational broadcasting, RTÉ produces programming which can compete with the best in the world. The reforms we are putting in place will strengthen this position.
My aim is to ensure RTÉ has the funds, the structures and the ethos to serve its owners, the people of Ireland. I want a system which is without political interference and utterly responsive to the needs of Ireland today.
Mr Boyd's article, in criticising the reforms, the improved efficiencies and an ambitious draft charter, read as a manifesto for the pre-reform status quo, which is in none of our interests.
I suspect that some of the criticisms of the charter and the RTÉ reforms have little to do with the substance of reform but rather with the very notion of a Fianna Fáil Minister urging RTÉ to protect minorities, preserve media pluralism and be socially inclusive.
Could it be that it offends against that irrelevant and simplistic dichotomy of RTÉ, liberalism and Dublin 4 versus Fianna Fáil, republicanism and rural Ireland?
Dermot Ahern is Minister for Communications, the Marine and Natural Resources