Government urged to ensure RTÉ programmes are available in the North

The bill also provides for the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) to begin auditing RTÉ from 2027, although this may be brought forward due to “serious issues and concerns arising from recent revelations regarding pay classification at the broadcaster”.  File Picture: RTÉ.ie

The Government has been urged to ensure all of RTÉ's content is available to audiences in the North.

While the majority of RTÉ's schedules are available in Northern Ireland, some programmes and live sports events cannot be broadcast for cross-border audiences.

Speaking during a Dáil debate on the Government's Broadcasting Bill on Thursday, Sinn Féin's spokesperson on media, Joanna Byrne, said the Government's rejection of an amendment, which would open access to all RTÉ programming in the six counties, "goes to the heart of the southern establishment’s disregard for and perception of Irish citizens in the North".

"As Ireland came to a standstill to cheer on the boys in green only weeks ago, it was wrong that so many people in the North were unable to watch our national football team play their World Cup qualifier free-to-air on RTÉ because it is geo-blocked.

"This was Ireland's biggest international soccer match in decades. It is equally unfair to block them from watching Irish athletes in the North competing for team Ireland in the Olympics, or Armagh potentially winning an all-Ireland final."

The North's economy minister, Caoimhe Archibald, has engaged with both the Irish and British governments to "help to bring an end to the unacceptable practice of geo-blocking".

Ms Byrne said that she and her colleague, Aengus Ó Snodaigh, will pursue their Broadcasting (All-Ireland Service) (Amendment) Bill 2025 to end the practice.

The bill also provides for the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG) to begin auditing RTÉ from 2027, although this may be brought forward due to “serious issues and concerns arising from recent revelations regarding pay classification at the broadcaster”. 

Junior minister Niamh Smyth said the controversy around the pay of broadcaster Derek Mooney in recent weeks had seemed like "Groundhog Day" after the Ryan Tubridy affair, adding that the bill would help restore trust in the broadcaster. 

"To be truly effective, our public service media providers must be trusted," she said. 

"To be trusted, they must be open, transparent, and demonstrate the very highest standards in corporate governance. 

"This must be underpinned by robust legislation, and that is why this bill aims to fundamentally reform the governance and regulation of RTÉ and TG4."

People Before Profit's Richard Boyd Barrett said that he was against the bill, saying that he did not believe the bill "is actually about achieving the things it says it is going to achieve".

He said that the bill would see an obligation of a minimum of 25% of all the money that RTÉ is going to be given "having to be outsourced to the private sector".

"It is a minimum, by the way, because that is back-door privatisation. There is no transparency once we outsource to the independent sector, none. Therefore, we will not know what is done with that money," Mr Boyd Barrett added.

• Paul Hosford is the Deputy Political Editor with the Irish Examiner.