Broadcasting Bill 2008

Public bill · Government · Presented

The proposal would overhaul Ireland’s broadcasting laws and create the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission. The new authority would license commercial, community and digital broadcasters, set standards on impartial news, advertising, children’s protection and accessibility, handle complaints and impose penalties for serious breaches. It would also set clearer duties and funding arrangements for RTÉ and TG4, support Irish-language and community programming, establish a broadcasting fund, and provide for digital broadcasting and the eventual switch-off of analogue television. Viewers would retain the television-licence requirement, while major events designated as important to Irish society would generally have to be available on free television.

Formal long title

Bill entitled an Act to revise the law relating to broadcasting services and content and for that purpose to establish an authority to be known as, in the English language, The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland or, in the Irish language, Údarás Craolacháin na hÉireann, to dissolve the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland and the Broadcasting Complaints Commission, to amend and repeal certain enactments relating to broadcasting, to provide for matters relating to television licences, to provide for the regulation and provision of telecommunications services and to provide for connected matters

Last updated 12 April 2018