The Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, is seeking new powers under a European Union directive to regulate foreign television companies who broadcast "offensive" advertising in the Republic.
Mr Ahern said he wanted to control the content of advertising on television services originating outside the State. Such advertising was often specifically directed at young and vulnerable people, he said.
The Minister will use Ireland's presidency of the EU in the first half of 2004 to bring forward an amendment to the Television Without Frontiers Directive, which governs the free movement of television services within the EU.
The amendment will introduce new powers to regulate broadcasters who provide television services specifically targeted at viewers in another country. Mr Ahern said he had received support from his counterparts in Sweden and the Netherlands for an initiative to amend the directive.
After a meeting this weekend in Sicily, he said he it was not acceptable that satellite broadcasters were not regulated in the markets into which they broadcast. "We need to be able to apply national measures to satellite broadcasters," he said.
"I am concerned about the impact of satellite television services on the ability of Ireland, for instance, to take meaningful measures in relation to advertising and the protection of minors. Why should a broadcaster be allowed target audiences, particularly the young and vulnerable, with either advertising or programming which would not be allowed originate from a TV station operating in that State?"
