Houses of the Oireachtas Channel ( ga, Bealach Thithe an Oireachtais) or publicly called Oireachtas TV is a
public service broadcaster for the two houses of the
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:
*The President of Ireland
*The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais):
** Dáil Éireann ...
(Irish parliament).
The channel was created under the Broadcasting Act 2009 for broadcast on the proposed roll out of Irish Digital Terrestrial Television. The channel broadcasts in the
Irish and English languages.
History
Oireachtas TV has been available online for a number of years and both public service broadcasters RTÉ and
TG4 have carried coverage of each of the Houses of the Oireachtas. RTÉ provides a late night round up with the
Oireachtas Report and at noon
Leaders Questions. TG4 broadcast live Dáil proceedings with their service
Dáil Beo and also provide extensive live coverage of Committee meetings.
In November 2007 the then
Taoiseach
The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the of ...
Bertie Ahern
Bartholomew Patrick "Bertie" Ahern (born 12 September 1951) is an Irish former Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1997 to 2008, Leader of Fianna Fáil from 1994 to 2008, Leader of the Opposition from 1994 to 1997, Tánaiste a ...
announced in the
Dáil that he favoured an Oireachtas channel stating that "compared with a lot of tripe that is on TV, the Oireachtas channel would be far better and very interesting." Since the statement the government have moved to make Oireachtas TV a reality on the digital terrestrial platform (
Saorview) in Ireland, and have included it in the
Broadcasting Act 2009
The Broadcasting Act 2009 (Number 18 of 2009) is an Act of the Oireachtas of Ireland. It was signed into law on 12 July 2009, although the provisions relating to the establishment of the new Broadcasting Authority of Ireland did not come into forc ...
. Chapter 6 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 clearly sets out the role of the Houses of the Oireachtais Channel. However the Oireachtas Commission have yet to decide when the launch will occur.
On 15 November 2011, Oireachtas TV began broadcasting on
UPC Ireland
Virgin Media Ireland is Liberty Global's telecommunications operation in Ireland. It is the largest digital cable television provider within the country. As of 31 December 2014, the company offers broadband internet, digital television and d ...
channel 801, initially as part of a trial initiative for a period of six months.
The trial service was delivered at no additional cost to the Houses of the Oireachtas or the tax-payer. On 18 September 2012, Oireachtas TV moved to channel 207 following a positive public reaction to the service. It launched on Sky on 17 September 2014.
Cost
The channel will cost €200,000 annually to broadcast and is financed through the tax payer. The channel has put aside €250,000 to provide the service on all major television service providers.
Availability
The channel was first launched on a trial basis on
Saorview. The pilot channel later launched on UPC Ireland on November 15, 2011.
By September 2014 UPC confirmed a 20% growth in viewership of the channel on their service. The channel later became available on
Sky Ireland
Sky Ireland Limited is a subsidiary of Comcast-owned Sky and supplies television, internet and telephony services in Ireland.
Its corporate headquarters are in Dublin which were opened by Taoiseach Enda Kenny on 18 January 2013.
Sky Ireland ...
on September 17, 2014. The channel formally launched on September 22, 2014 and is now available on UPC Ireland, and Sky Ireland.
Eircom's eVision started broadcasting the channel on 14 November 2014. The channel has a potential market of 1.1 million viewers.
On January 12, 2016 it became available on Saorview.
See also
*
BBC Parliament
BBC Parliament is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel from the BBC that broadcasts live and recorded coverage of the House of Commons, House of Lords and Select Committees of the British Parliament, the Scottish Parliam ...
*
C-SPAN
Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...
References
External links
*
Broadcasting Act 2009
{{Parliamentary broadcasters
Television stations in Ireland
Television channels and stations established in 2011
2011 establishments in Ireland
Oireachtas
Legislature broadcasters