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Updated at 7pm
VIDEO FOOTAGE OF debates from Leinster House prior to 2014 have been reuploaded to the Oireachtas website after being removed.
The footage of Dáil debates, spanning from 1990 to 2014 and which were previously accessible online, were removed from the internet. If someone wanted to access the footage – which is often used by journalists, researchers and academics – they would have had to submit a request to access the footage.
But after anger from both politicians and journalists, the videos were reuploaded and will remain on the government site for the time being.
The change in the archives was first highlighted in The Irish Daily Mail this weekend by journalist and DIT lecturer Ken Foxe, who said the footage was “particularly popular on social media in catching out politicians making U-turns”.
He said the first formal request for footage has already taken a week to process:
So, why was it removed?
A spokesperson for the Houses of the Oireachtas said the affected files date back 10 years and “in no conceivable way could be deemed to have covered the entire proceedings of the Houses and committees”.
However, the archive did include key moments in Irish political history, such as when Taoiseach Enda Kenny blasted the Vatican following the Cloyne report in 2011.
And Leo Varadkar’s first speech in the Dáil in 2007.
The spokesperson clarified that the files which were removed all relate to 2014 and earlier. The reason for their removal is apparently due to the format in which they were recorded.
“These files were only recorded in WMV format. As you may know, WMV is a proprietary Microsoft file format which is now obsolete. Many of our users could not access/play these files and we were increasingly being contacted by users who were having difficulty playing the files,” a spokesperson explained.
We switched over exclusively to recording mp4 files in 2015 and stopped recording WMV files at that time. Switching to the more versatile mp4 file format for our video has ensured that the majority of users can view our videos without difficulty.
“We did leave the older files online, but the recent change you refer to has been triggered as our service provider decommissioned the infrastructure on which these files were hosted.”
Another reason cited for their removal from the Oireachtas website is that their “web analytics showed that there was minimal traffic going to video files older than the last month or so”.
How would you access the files if the footage was removed?
The Houses of the Oireachtas said that when the video footage wasn’t accessible online, the official report of Dáil debates remained – namely, the transcripts of what was said.
If you want to see the live action of a debate before 2014, you would have had to submit a request for the footage and the Houses of the Oireachtas Broadcasting Unit can facilitate access to the older files.
“Anyone looking for video/audio records can request these from our Broadcasting Unit. These only go back as far as 1990 as that is when televising of the proceedings commenced, however some media organisations may have footage/audio from before then,” said the spokesperson, adding that the official report or transcript going back to 1919 will soon be available to the public.
“I think this illustrates our commitment to transparency and e-democracy.”
Who made the decision?
Since Foxe reported that access was now only available by request, a number of politicians and journalists have inquired about the decision-making process, particularly focussing on whether elected members of the House were notified or debated the change.
TheJournal.ie asked the Houses of the Oireachtas if there was any discussion with those in government and who made the final decision on the matter.
“The development of our new website is a matter for the Houses of the Oireachtas and not government,” said the spokesperson.
Fianna Fáil Communications spokesman TD Timmy Dooley told TheJournal.ie today that the removing the public’s access to the footage made “no sense”, particularly at a time when most organisations are making a concerted effort to digitise their data and make it easily accessible.
“I think to ensure that our parliament is transparent, open and accountable it is important as far as is possible, that proceedings of the House is made available to the public in an archived fashion to the greatest extent possible,” he said.
Information that was held online should remain online. I know it may be difficult to digitise older information, but what was available online should continue to be accessible for the purposes of journalists.
- With reporting from Gráinne Ní Aodha
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Why couldn’t they have converted the files to mp4.
@Michael Hayden: My thoughts exact. Its not difficult.
@Michael Hayden: https://youtu.be/ugailEn8U5o thankfully this one is still available.
@Mairtin Antaine O Conaill: an absolute gem
@Michael Hayden: @20.00
well done to Christina Finn for highlighting this and showing the power of journalism.
They’re taking records of our crooked politicians false promises offline, making them unavailable. I wonder was the big new FG “comms” unit behind this.
@Adrian:
Full transcripts of all Dail debates are still available.
And the videos can still be requested.
Responsibility for this is with Houses of the Oireachtas, not Gov.
But otherwise, spot on.
@Adrian: the transcripts are still available and readily searchable. If you want the video you’ll have to know the date and time anyway so you’ll have to search the transcript in the first place. The records are there.
If you believe the transcripts aren’t accurate or that somehow it’s all part of a cover up, I have a roll of tin foil to sell you so you can fashion a hat from it.
@Eoin Byrne: The tin foil hat is for FG believers. Still available but it’s the waiting time that’s vitally important.
@Adrian: You’re right Adrian. This is the end of civilisation as we know it. Run to the hills!
@Adrian: Your knee jerk response is utter nonsense. Try and think before you emote. Government are not the Oireachtas. All debates are available on line in written format and will continue to be. Get a life.
@John R: Maybe I’m thinking too much. Maybe I should just get one of those tin foil hats and start believing the utter bull and spin our gov spews out every day.
@John R: And this is the request form to fill out . Just sign here , and here , and put your email address here , a contact phone number here , sign here , state you age and address here , and we’ll get back to you .
So Leo gets a new Comms unit and this happens…… Mmmmmmmmm
@LITTLEONE: except it was a decision by the house, not the government. Do you conspiracy theorists actually read?
@Hurt Stoogie: No they don’t read. They emote. The Trumpites.
@John R: Wow , anyone who thinks this is a bad idea is now a ”Trumpite” , perish the thought the upstart public disagrees with this decree .
@John R: the trumpites. Lol . Think your suffering a bit of something there John. It’s called delusions…
Leo’s new comms unit implementing a less is more mantra on the promise to deliver greater accountability? Now if only they did the same for their salaries.
@Jeffrey McMahon: Nothing to do with D/Taoiseach. It’s the broadcasting unit in the Oireachtas. But you would need to read the article to understand this. Your post simply makes you look stupid and Ill-informed.
@John R: I did read the article. Do you have evidence that the new comms unit was not involved in any stage of the decision in any way, perhaps as an advisory to the broadcasting unit? If so please share it, otherwise your comment is as ill informed as my own, mere speculation on both our parts, which is why I framed my post as a question and not a statement.
@John R: Your constant defence of a retrograde step by Leinster Hse is what’s stupid. The recent history of governments is one of lies spin and coercion. Getting rid of Dail business from 2014 is far to early, debates are still relevant, transcripts don’t cut the mustard. This bears all the hallmark of Leo’s new spin dept. There’s plenty to be hidden since the night of the bank guarantee, when neo-liberalism came and blighted the lives of ordinary people. Never mind the election promises of 2011, and the corruption debates since then.
This is a disgrace , removing any evidence from public view of a politicians false promises or remarks is not a step forward for democracy .
@Paddy Hayden: except that isn’t happening
@Hurt Stoogie: Is the internet a public forum ? I would have thought so .
Having to make a request stating the time and day , doesn’t sound like opening anything up to the public , I could be wrong though , please enlighten me .
@Paddy Hayden: The internet a public forum? Maybe. The content? Not always. As you well know.
@John R: So are Dail debates not open to the public ? I thought they show it on tv and there is a public gallery .
The only reason I can see for this move is to remove from public view statements made previously by politicians (from all parties)
More cover ups by the gov,that’s what it is.
@@mdmak33: read the fupping article
@@mdmak33: Yep ! Another project brought to us by the ministry of spin .
Theres a lot of goodwork being done to publicise old files, maps, archives etc.
More Control for FG.
Next stop youtube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQrhBIuSCmM
It removes a lot of embarrassing and cringeworthy moments in the Dail. The transcripts look less glaringly awful and are often polished up to remove some of the sillier stuff.
@Fiona deFreyne: can you provide us with proof of altered Dáil transcripts?
@Hurt Stoogie: No one will be able to provide proof of anything that took place in the Dail. That’s the purpose and the point.
@Hurt Stoogie: I can. Remember when Fidelma Healy-Eames said that you could get “raped on Facebook”?
https://www.kildarestreet.com/committees/?id=2013-03-06a.1039&s=%22raped+on+facebook%22#g1077
The official report de-stupid-ed her comments and published something else that she did not in fact say:
The proof, of course, is in the video.
Loads of applications that convert from wma to mp4, very easily done
Did Leo put on about 50 stone over the summer??
Strategic move by FF/FG, if it’s not on record, we didn’t say it.
@Trevor Hayden: except it has nothing to do with them
@Hurt Stoogie: And the transcripts are still online as are the hard copies of the debates. But of course many of the people commenting here don’t actually know any of this because they are not informed.
@Hurt Stoogie: Yeah, the plausable deniability of it’s nothing to do with us. Just one more layer of mudguards.
At least we knew where we stood with Oliver Cromwell
Send me the whole archive, I’ll have it converted to mp4 in a week, using entirely free software which takes mere minutes to set up. You literally pick a folder, tell it what format to convert everything to, and just let it run. How is this complicated?
@Patrick FitzGerald: They’ll get SIPTU after ya!
Ahhh you have to love the transparency and accpuntability in Irish politics.
The national embarrassments are back in all their video glory.
I wonder how many of the lost lambs wailing in despair were even aware of the existence of said video library? I suppose its easier than examining things like the implosion of the shinners, and the declining appeal of the LLA. :)
No doubt edited versions put back online
@Mick Costello: All the good bits taken out, lol.
Apparently e-democracy is a thing. Buzz words or what??
There’s probably a fairly significant cost involved in converting the files to an open format.
Someone has to process thousands of hours of footage and then make it searchable again.
It’s definitely a fairly significant archiving job and it’s quite possible they just don’t have the budget for it.
However, maybe it’s something worth finding as an important aspect of making modern history available and also encouraging Dail transparency.
Lol
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