Christopher O'Sullivan (Cork South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I certainly welcome the decentralisation of a lot of the work to places like Cork and Limerick. There is a lot of support for independent production included as well, which is good. It has not been welcomed across the board but I certainly think it is good.

The question of future funding comes up time and again and we are being asked whether we are avoiding it because of the political difficulty of introducing new measures, whether through the licence fee, Exchequer funding or anything else. We have to grasp the nettle now and decide one way or the other because the future of public broadcasting is at stake. Will the Minister give a clear updated timeline as to when we can expect a decision? I know there are outstanding reports that are awaited but when can we expect a decision? We need to know how this is going to be funded going forward rather than interim funding constantly being sought.