Patrick Costello (Dublin South Central, Green Party)

There are issues with making an archive available. There are issues with building an archive, as Deputy Ó Snodaigh is finding, and there is an issue with maintaining an archive, as we heard from RTÉ and ARA Ireland. There are practical issues. However, they are being dealt with every day. This Bill is not creating new problems. We need to remember that and to focus on what this Bill can achieve.

There was talk of a need for a cost-benefit analysis but we have heard quite a few of the benefits and they are quite intangible and difficult to monetise for a cost-benefit analysis. Some of it is about opening up a vein of social of history and I do not think you can ever put a monetary value on that. It is support for the public realm, for pushing back against misinformation and for good information. All of those things are hugely beneficial but we cannot necessarily put a cost on them.

One of the things coming up is the need for more resources, which we absolutely need. This legislation does not create that resource demand; it is there already. What this legislation does is to give a lever to get access to the required resources. For example, legislation that puts an obligation on the director general of RTÉ are the various pieces of health and safety legislation. If RTÉ needed some important health and safety infrastructure development, nobody is going to deny it the money as it has to have it in law. When it becomes a legal obligation, the demand for those resources and the need to provide those resources is strengthened. The sustained commitment that we need will only be realised in real life if it is there in black and white in legislation. If it is not, we are relying on goodwill. I go back to what was said about relying on the kindness of strangers. If everybody agrees with the spirit of opening up these archives, then this is the way to do it because otherwise it is just not going to happen. There may be things that can be ironed out by way of Committee Stage amendments.

There are different models. The broadcasting authority in England was referenced. In Switzerland and Holland, there are amazing resources to do this work. We can learn. It was said in the earlier session that we are on a par with other public service broadcasters. I do not want to be on a par with them; I want to be leading them. There are others ahead of us, so let us copy them and push ahead. The only way we are going to enable that to happen is by baking it into legislation.