The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland can investigate and decide upon complaints received in relation to the following:

Fairness, Objectivity and Impartiality: There is a requirement that all news broadcast by a broadcaster is reported and presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster’s own views. In the treatment of current affairs, including matters which are either of public controversy, or the subject of current public debate, broadcasters must ensure that they are fair to all interests concerned and that the broadcast material is presented in an objective and impartial manner and without any expression of the broadcaster’s own views.

Offence & Harm, Law & Order: That anything which may reasonably be regarded as causing harm or offence, or as being likely to promote, or incite to, crime, or as tending to undermine the authority of the State, is not broadcast by a broadcaster.

Privacy: That in programmes broadcast by the broadcaster, and in the means employed to make such programmes, the privacy of any individual is not unreasonably encroached upon.

Non-compliance with Codes: that a broadcaster failed to comply with:
- The Code of Programme Standards
- The General Advertising Code
- The Children’s Advertising Code
Copies of the Codes can down-loaded via this link.

If you see or hear anything on Irish radio or television that you wish to complain about, your complaint to the BAI must be not more than 30 days after the date of the broadcast.

If your complaint relates to one programme, then it must be received not more than 30 days after the date of the broadcast.
If your complaint relates to two or more unrelated broadcasts, the complaint must be received not more than 30 days after the earliest of those broadcasts.
If your complaint relates to two or more related broadcasts, the complaint must be received not more than 30 days after the latest of those broadcasts.

In order to consider your complaint, the BAI must receive your complaint in writing, preferably by completing a complaint form. You can download a complaint form below. Alternatively, you can contact the offices of the BAI at 01 6441200 or complaints@bai.ie.
Advertising Complaint Form
Programme Complaint Form

Your must inform the BAI of the name of the programme/advertisement, station, date & time of the broadcast and what legislative requirement/code you feel the broadcaster has not adhered to. It is important that you submit all the information required. Otherwise, the BAI may not be in a position to consider your complaint.

If you have submitted the information required within thirty days of the broadcast, and the issue you have raised is within the ambit of the Authority, we will send your letter to the broadcaster for consideration and reply.

Yes, in certain circumstances. For example, if the complaint relates to a person employed by the broadcaster concerned, or the programme was commissioned by the broadcaster concerned, then the person employed or the programme maker will have an opportunity to respond to the complaint. If the complaint relates to an advertisment, then the advertiser concerned will have an opportuinity to respond to the complaint.

Currently, if a complaint concerns a programming issue, the broadcaster has twenty-one days in which to respond. In the context of an advertising complaint, the broadcaster/advertiser have fourteen days in which to respond.

Initial consideration: if you are not happy with the response to your complaint, you can inform the BAI and your complaint will be given initial consideration by the BAI's Executive Complaint Forum. In this regard, all written material on file, together with the relevant recording of the broadcast will be considered in a collagaite manner by the Forum. If the Forum determines that the issues as raise by you are not borne out by the broadcasting content, the complaint will be considered resolved. If the Forum decides that there are complaint issues borne out by the broadcasting content which require further consideration, the complaint will be referred to the Compliance Committee for assessment.

Compliance Committee: In assessing a complaint, the Authority considers all written material on file together with the relevant broadcast material. The issues are discussed in a collegiate manner at a meeting of the Compliance Committee. If the Committee agrees with the complaint, it will be upheld. If the Committee disagrees, the complaint will be rejected.

A copy of the decision will be sent to the complainant and the broadcaster before its publication. If the programme/advertisement is produced by a person other than the broadcaster, the Committee will also forward a copy of the decision to the relevant person.

The Compliance Committee is required to publish details of all decisions made in relation to complaints received and can in turn require that broadcasters should publish decisions, in a manner to be agreed. Decisions in relation to all complaints considered by the Committee will be published in the decisions section of the site.

The legislation also provides that broadcasters must broadcast decisions of the Compliance Committee where a complaint has been fully or partially upheld. Broadcasts of this nature must be made within 21 days of the Compliance Committee issuing its decision. The information published included the name of the complainant only. A complainant is requested to submit contact details. Such details submityed are for use by the Authority only.

From time to time, the Compliance Committee may determine that it is not appropriate to publish or broadcast decisions in relation to complaints. However this will be determined on a case by case basis.