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On 25 March 2015, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland published its new Guidelines in Respect of Coverage of Referenda. The Guidelines set out rules and advice for broadcasters in their coverage of two referenda set to take place in May 2015 (the first proposing allowing same-sex marriage and the second proposing a reduction in the age of eligibly for presidential candidates). The new Guidelines replace the previous Guidelines in Respect of Coverage of Referenda, issued in 2013 and 2011 (see IRIS 2013-8/27 and IRIS 2011-9/24). Rule 27 of the Authority’s Code of Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality...

On 2 December 2014, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources signed an order designating a new television channel, UTV Ireland, as a public service under the Broadcasting Act 2009. On 1 January 2015 the channel began broadcasting free-to-air in Ireland. UTV Ireland will be a general entertainment channel and its schedule includes a nightly news and current affairs programme. In November 2013, UTV Ireland applied for a licence under section 71 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, which allows the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland to grant a television “content provision contract”....

On 3 February 2015, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) launched its new broadcasting funding scheme entitled “Sound & Vision III”, which has been recently approved by the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources. The scheme makes available nearly EUR 24 million in funding for specific television and radio programmes over the next two years (for previous schemes, see IRIS 2005-10/7). The new scheme is made under section 154 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, which requires the Authority to prepare a funding scheme to support a number of objectives, including new television or...

The Information Commissioner has issued its decision on whether the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) is required under freedom of information law to release certain documents compiled during its investigation into a public broadcaster’s current-affairs programme. The Commissioner held that the BAI was justified in refusing access to interview notes with journalists and written submissions from the public broadcaster RTÉ. On 4 May 2012, the BAI published a determination on RTÉ’s television programme “Prime Time Investigates - A Mission to Prey”, which had included allegations that an Irish...

On 27 January 2015, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland published its new “Rules on Television Subtitling, Sign Language and Audio Description”. The previous rules had been in effect since 2012 (see IRIS 2012-7/28) and in 2014 a public consultation was launched on revising the rules (see IRIS 2014-7/25). The rules set out the level of subtitling, sign language and audio-description that television broadcasters must offer to the public. Under the new rules, a range of percentage targets are set for each broadcast service (television station) that they must provide for the period 2014-2018 and...