There were a total of 206 complaints made against Irish broadcasters to the Broadcasting Complaints Commission (BCC) in the first nine months of last year, with the majority of these made against RTÉ.
Michael McGrath SC, chair of the BCC, told yesterday's committee meeting that 135 complaints were made against State broadcasters between January and the middle of September.
Eighty-three of these related to State-run television stations, including 57 against RTÉ 1 and 19 against RTÉ 2, with 52 relating to State-run radio stations. This breaks down as 44 complaints against RTÉ Radio 1 and eight against RTÉ 2FM. However, RTÉ said the higher level of complaints against it was to be expected in view of the level of home-made programming it produces, compared to other broadcasters.
There were 22 complaints against TV3 and 49 against independent radio stations.
Séamus Dooley of the National Union of Journalists claimed that under the proposed Broadcasting Bill, there will be an estimated 78 Government appointees. He said this marked a significant increase in such appointees and highlighted the potential for increased political interference in broadcasting matters.
According to Department of Communications figures supplied to The Irish Times yesterday, there are currently up to 37 Government appointees to bodies such as the RTÉ Authority, Teilifís na Gaeilge, the BCC and the BCI. A department spokesman said the figures for were boosted "to a certain extent" because the proposals place the existing RTÉ audience council on a statutory footing.
"The bottom line from us is this Bill maintains and develops the independence of public service broadcasters and broadcasting regulatory bodies," the spokesman added.
Some committee members also called for RTÉ's Oireachtas Report programme to be moved to an earlier viewing time to maximise its audience and to establish a dedicated Oireachtas channel.