An advertisement for the contract to televise the proceedings of the Houses of the Oireachtas was published this month, and tenders are expected from around the globe. Televising started 10 years ago and Windmill Lane has had the contract since, providing live coverage of the Dail and Seanad and major committees to Leinster House, to RTE and others who buy it. Windmill acts as an agent for the Oireachtas and provides a service for which they were paid an estimated £1.18m last year.
Despite considerable dissatisfaction with RTE over the scheduling of Oireachtas Report in the early hours of the morning - when only drunks and insomniacs watched according to Labour's Pat Rabbitte - and about the station's decision not to broadcast the PAC hearings on DIRT last September, there has been no complaint about Windmill. Originally restricted to focusing on the person speaking (which led to "doughnutting", i.e. deputies surrounding the speaker), wide-angle shots were later permitted, for editing purposes, and subsequently reaction shots. The Broadcasting Committee is ever-vigilant in preserving the dignity of the house and still opposes roving shots which might identify hecklers or worse.
But now the news is that the Dail may look a bit livelier in future. There is talk of changing the order of Taoiseach's Questions to a lottery system. That would mean anyone, rather than those at the top of the list, might be called to ask a question. That should get more deputies into the chamber.