RTÉ Lisbon coverage criticised

MINISTER OF State for European Affairs Dick Roche criticised RTÉ for the amount of coverage given recently to Libertas chairman Declan Ganley.

"I ask any fair-minded person in broadcasting, the print media or politics, to compile the amount of air time given in recent weeks by RTÉ to the unelected leader of the Libertas organisation, who has no democratic mandate and little knowledge of EU law or processes," he said.

Mr Roche, who was speaking during a debate on EU legislation, said he had listened recently to a person who had proclaimed himself to be Ireland's next billionaire.

"God help us, when one considers the business activities in which he has been involved: speaking against the elites," said Mr Roche.

"I am not part of an elite. I am an ordinary working-class individual who worked and was elected by my constituents, and so are all 166 of us."

Mr Roche added: "None of us has a view of ourselves as part of an elite, and if we did we would be cut down to measure by our constituents who have little time for the kind of aggression, bombast and nonsense we have seen in recent days, including today when one unelected individual decided to insult the members of the Oireachtas and then walk out of a committee."

John Perry (FG), on behalf of the joint committee on European scrutiny, said there was an enormous amount of material to be scrutinised in considering the EU's legal framework.

"Already, more than 9,000 EU legislative measures are in place, and since 1973 Ireland has transposed 1,732 directives into Irish law out of a total of 1,751, equivalent to a transposition rate of 98.9 per cent." He said the volume of EU legislation, and the significance of its impact on domestic policy in all areas, meant that it was essential for the Oireachtas to have effective, robust and accessible procedures for scrutinising EU business.

Labour spokesman on European affairs Joe Costello said one of the complaints regularly thrown up was that there was a democratic deficit, with the Oireachtas failing to engage with citizens.

"In that regard, we must ensure that we debate the issues in this House in full plenary session so that the public is aware of what we are doing," he added.

"We must also ensure that our national broadcaster treats the House and the European Parliament seriously." Mr Costello said it was no good for RTÉ to say that the Lisbon Treaty was "not the most sexy material".