A chara, - I write as one of the almost 17 per cent of the population who suffer from hearing loss. Those of us who have this problem, as you will appreciate, are very conscious of the benefits of subtitling on television programmes. I have been aware for some time now of the excellent service delivered by TG4 to the hard of hearing. I am very conscious that the bilingual imperative is at the heart of this policy. The result, however, is very satisfactory for those of us with a hearing loss.
TG4 transmits a very high proportion of its programmes complete with very accurate subtitling. It shows films made in a variety of languages. It very often dubs these films in Irish and in addition carries first-rate subtitling. We can say the same for cartoons and a wide range of children's programmes. Clearly this could be solely the result of using "state of the art" technology. My feeling is, however, that this does not tell the whole story. It suggests to me a real commitment to achieving a standard of excellence in all that the station does.
Sadly, when one compares the fledgling TG4 service with our main and long-established national channels it is another story altogether. I am the first to concede that RTE, on both channels, has made some headway in this regard. TV3 has to date made no effort at all. I note, however, of late, that some programmes on RTE which previously carried subtitles have stopped doing so. Despite the obvious improvements made by RTE, it has a long way to go, starting from a very low base.
I have seen for myself the first-class work done by the subtitling staff in Montrose. They are too few in number and are clearly underfunded. Until the coming of TG4 many people, myself included, had assumed that the sheer size of and resources available to RTE's competitors, would have accounted for the huge difference in the number of programmes that carried subtitles. TG4 has clearly shown us that this is not so. We now know the technology is widely available. We can clearly see, that it can be used to good effect - but only if the commitment is there.
Treaslaim libh bhur saothar a TG4, agus gura fada buan sibh. - Is mise.
Cearul Page, Greentrees Road, Terenure, Dublin 12.