Media Freedom and Disrespect for Privacy

Senator Rónán Mullen:  Guím gach rath ar mo chomhghleacaithe don téarma amach romhainn. As others have done I welcome Senator Mooney to the House. I both envy and sympathise with him because it is not normal that one gets to hear so many tributes to oneself in one’s lifetime outside one’s retirement. I also sympathise with him because the number of tributes paid to him is greatly in excess of the number of vocational panels to the Seanad and I foresee difficulties. None of that in any way takes from the tributes that are undoubtedly deserved. He comes with a great reputation already and I look forward to hearing his contributions to debates and to engaging with him as others will do.

I was also very pleased to hear Senators McFadden and Keaveney, who are both always very fair, raise the media treatment of the Minister for Finance over the Christmas period. I ask the Leader for a debate at the earliest opportunity on the media and how they operate. I am not talking about a session in which everybody comes in and vents their own personal spleen, vendettas or gripes against journalism. There is already too much of politicians giving out about the media. We do not need a culture in which people constantly give out about the media. We need a culture in which people hold the media to account. We will do so by identifying that the libel laws alone are not sufficient to protect people, whether in private life or in public life from the depredations of the media. We need a more thorough analysis of how the media operate. While we need to consider that under the heading of privacy, we also need to consider issues like taste and decency, and fairness and balance. We can all outline occasions and instances where the media have been unfair. However, we live at a time when all institutions are coming under scrutiny and there is very little support for self-regulation. While I commend the work being done by the press council, that does not cover broadcast matters. There is no sense that the broadcasting regulatory authorities have any teeth at all. We clearly need to reconsider how we can hold the media to account in a way that does not impact unnecessarily or inappropriately on media freedom.

I say this with great sympathy to individual journalists who are caught up in a web of bad practice because of the pressure they face from their editors and media bosses. This is not targeted against any individual journalist or media practitioner. However, we definitely need a debate on how we can get the media to observe better standards. It was simply not acceptable to hear a series of journalists in recent weeks defend, as they had to do, bad practice. The most that some would say was that they would not have done it that way themselves, as if there were no objective standards which all should uphold. Clearly the timing of telling that story was a matter that should have been negotiated with the Minister’s family. The idea that anybody was done a favour by being given merely two days over Christmas is an insult to our intelligence.

Senators:  Hear, hear.

Senator Rónán Mullen:  I am asking seriously for a debate on the media in which we will not be hearing just rants about the media, but also constructive thoughts about how we can get the right balance between media freedom on the one hand and the right of all members of the public, including people in public life, to good standards on the other.

On a number of occasions in the past year I have raised not only the good work being done by hospitals but also the good work being done by the Irish Hospice Foundation. It has a particular programme for hospice-friendly hospitals. It has raised the important matter of how we get our hospitals up to the standards they should attain particularly regarding end of life care. I am talking about facilities for people who are terminally ill to be able to settle sensitive matters with their families or facilities to allow people to stay over in hospital with people for whom they are caring. There can be insensitive treatment of people in our hospitals simply because the facilities are not there and good practice has not been established as a norm. Our hospitals should be run like hotels in terms of the quality of service given to people at every level including food and beverages, medical care and the space and quality of facilities afforded to loved ones.

I would like a debate on the quality of our hospitals. I know it is not an easy time to talk about major capital investment in our hospital care, but if we are serious about promoting good health in our society and helping people to get well we must provide them with an environment conducive to good health care. I would like a debate about the hospice-friendly hospitals of the Irish Hospice Foundation and the agenda of quality health care generally.

I also concur with what has been said about the air traffic controllers strike. Senator Quinn rightly mentioned the response of President Reagan in 1981, which was seen as a drastic response at the time. However, we should be asking where is the patriotism of people who at a time of crisis take such a step with the impact it has on our reputation abroad and the major inconvenience caused to our citizens. I accept great and sensitive work is done by our air traffic controllers, but they are certainly not at the rough end when it comes to remuneration. It is a shame that this has happened and it calls into question people’s awareness of the serious crisis this country faces. It is beyond me that they could contemplate such an action.

I wish to mention overseas aid as mentioned by Senator Bacik. The crisis in Haiti has concentrated our minds on the importance of solidarity with people in less fortunate parts of the world, particularly parts of the world that are prone to natural disasters. I had the honour of hosting the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church, Dr. Stafford Carson, this afternoon. He had met the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Power. I heard about the great work and fundraising being done within the Presbyterian community supporting Irish efforts abroad. To use a word beloved of the Taoiseach, it is vital that our State continues to provide aid commensurate with the Irish people’s commitment to the developing world and in particular to people in crisis. I certainly hope that this is the year in which we get back on track towards reaching our commitment of 0.7% of GDP in terms of overseas development aid, because we have lost ground in this regard and I hope that situation will be reversed.