NEW broadcasting legislation, based on the Green Paper on Broadcasting, is expected to be before the Dail early in 1997.
The Freedom of Information Bill, meanwhile, is expected to be published within weeks.
The Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, promised major new broadcasting legislation following the publication of his Green Paper and the debate that followed. He received submissions on his paper, which he has stated will be taken into account when legislation is drafted.
The legislation will contain the legal basis to establish Teilifis na Gaeilge. The Irish language station will begin broadcasting this autumn as a subsidiary of RTE, because legislation establishing TnaG was not ready in time.
It is believed that a principal officer in the broadcasting section of the Department of Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht is engaged in drafting the legislation, which is expected to be highly complex.
The other promised legislation, the Freedom of Information Bill, is nearly ready for publication and will be presented to the Dail before Christmas.
The Minister responsible for the legislation, Ms Eithne Fitzgerald, has been criticised for allowing a degree of secrecy to remain in areas such as defence, Northern Ireland and foreign affairs, with no independent scrutiny.
The legislation will provide for the creation of the post of Information Commissioner. But it is expected that it will also propose that the Taoiseach and certain ministers will oversee a system of ministerial certificates which will allow sensitive information to be kept secret.
Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats are both committed to supporting Freedom of Information legislation. But FF is expected to oppose the Bill on the basis that it does not go far enough.