Victory For The Deaf In New Broadcasting Bill - Coveney

From: Politics.ie, Ireland - Dec 11, 2003

Thursday, December 11 by Andrew Page

Fine Gael Spokesperson on Communications Simon Coveney TD speaking today (Thursday) on the final stages of the new Broadcasting Funding Bill 2003, welcomed the fact that the Government has agreed to include an amendment on his proposal in the Bill on the provision of subtitling.

"As a result, all programmes and projects that receive future funding as a result of this legislation are likely to be required to provide subtitling to ensure access for persons who are deaf or hard of hearing.

"While this is only a small step in the right direction to significantly improve levels of subtitling on television, it is progress that should be acknowledged and built on in the future."

During the Summer Deputy Coveney launched a draft Bill (Broadcasting - Captioning of Televised Programming - Bill 2003) that aimed at setting legal targets for broadcasters to meet over a phased period in the area of subtitling.

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