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In November 2008, the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources published a report on the digital terrestrial television trials conducted in 2006. One of the key decisions from the trials was to use MPEG 4, the technology chosen in most countries. Under the Broadcasting (Amendment) Act 2007 (see IRIS 2007-4: 16), RTÉ, the public service broadcaster, is required to provide a digital television service offering access to the Irish national channels (RTÉ, TG4 and TV3) on a free-to-air basis. RTÉ received its licence in 2008 and is expected to launch its service on a phased basis from...

In April 2009, the Joint Oireachtas (Parliament) Committee on the Constitution, issued a report on the referendum procedure prescribed by Articles 46 and 47 of the Irish Constitution. In particular, the Committee examined the current arrangements whereby information is conveyed to the public by the broadcast media during referendum campaigns. The current arrangements followed a Supreme Court decision in Coughlan v. the Broadcasting Complaints Commission in 2000 (see IRIS 2000-2: 7). As a result of that decision, broadcasters believed they were required to allocate equal airtime to the “yes” and...

In April 2008, a court approved a settlement of more than EUR 60,000 damages to five Dublin primary school children for breach of privacy. Their images were unlawfully used in the award-winning documentary film “Deliver Us from Evil”, about an American paedophile priest. Their parents had sued the director, the film company and the distribution company, all of California, and the children’s school. The school was granted full indemnity by the US defendants. The film company had contacted the school in 2004 seeking to take footage of the children at play for use in a documentary film about multiculturalism...

The Section 481 tax relief scheme for film and television (section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997, as amended, see IRIS 2008-5: 13, IRIS 2004-1: 14 and IRIS 2001-2: 10), has been strengthened by new measures contained in section 28 of the Finance (No. 2) Act 2008. The maximum that each individual can invest in film production is increased from EUR 31,750 to EUR 50,000. The amount that they can claim against their tax liability is increased from 80% to 100%. According to the Chairman of the Irish Film Board, this means that Ireland will be able to offer a 28% net benefit to attract international...

In December 2008, the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI) rejected a proposed radio advertisement for Veritas. Veritas is a religious publisher and retailer wholly owned by the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference. The advertisement for products available in Veritas shops and on their website was due to be broadcast over the Christmas period on RTÉ, the national public service broadcaster. The BCI found that the advertisement did not comply with the legislation and regulation regarding advertising directed towards a religious end, specifically section 65 of the Broadcasting Act, 2001 and section...