Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will jump in because I wish to ask Mr. Dooley and Mr. Purcell a question that is linked to RTÉ. On the protection of regional media in particular, be it print or radio, newsrooms have been cut drastically since I worked in one more than 20 years ago. That has impacted on coverage of local courts, sports and council meetings. One idea I discussed with John Whittingdale, the former UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when I met him at a conference two years ago was the introduction of a local democracy reporting service that uses a portion of the State licence fee to fund local journalists to produce content which is then syndicated. I think there are approximately 150 local democracy reporters. Is that something that the NUJ and IBI could work on with RTÉ to achieve local democracy on the ground?