RTÉ HAS been in a legal limbo since the beginning of the new year as the term of office of the RTÉ Authority has expired and a new one has yet to be appointed.
The term of the nine-member authority was initially extended for six months at the end of last June pending the establishment of new structures under the terms of the 2008 Broadcasting Bill.
However, that legislation has still not been passed into law by the Dáil, and the term of office of the RTÉ Authority lapsed at the end of 2008.
A spokeswoman for Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan said yesterday that the Minister had a list of names for the new authority which he would bring to Cabinet very shortly for approval.
The new body will operate initially under existing legislation but will continue to function as the board of RTÉ when the Broadcasting Bill becomes law.
The old RTÉ Authority was a nine-member board which met monthly, making policy and guiding the corporate direction of the broadcaster. It was chaired by Mary Finan and among the members were trade union representative Patricia King and worker representative Joe O’Brien.
The authority was initially under the 1960 Broadcasting Act and had the legal responsibility for running the services authorised under the Broadcasting Authority Acts 1960-2002.
Under the terms of the Broadcasting Bill 2008, a new Broadcasting Authority of Ireland will be established to regulate both public service and private sector broadcasting.
The new board of RTÉ, which will be answerable to the broadcasting authority, will have 12 members, six who will be nominated by the Minister, four more to be nominated by the Minister on the advice of the Oireachtas Broadcasting Committee, one worker-director and the director general of RTÉ.
On the publication of the Bill last year, Mr Ryan said it was a modernising piece of legislation designed to meet the needs of Irish broadcasting in a new era of media and regulation.
The Bill contains a number of proposals to protect the interests of viewers and listeners.
It includes a “right-of-reply” mechanism whereby individuals who feel their reputations have been damaged may have this corrected in a further broadcast.
There is also provision for the establishment by RTÉ and TG4 of audience councils to represent the views of listeners and viewers.
The Bill proposes some new approaches in relation to codes and rules for broadcasting in Ireland, in particular relating to food advertising aimed at children.
Television and radio stations will face fines of up to €250,000 if they infringe codes of conduct or licence requirements under the Bill’s stricter enforcement mechanism.
