Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is no doubt that the financial scandals in RTÉ have rocked people's trust and confidence in both the national broadcaster and the television licence system. The drip-feed of information from RTÉ has caused huge reputational damage and displayed a level of abuse of the trust taxpayers placed in it from which it will take a long time, if ever, to recover. From the Toy Show The Musicaldebacle to flip-flops, not one person is seen to be held accountable for the incredible waste of public money. The public now wants to see decisive action taken. People have simply had enough between the mixed messages and the almost untouchable mentality in the upper echelons of RTÉ.

In recent years, other countries have moved from licence fees to general Exchequer-based funding. We can learn from those countries. The Sinn Féin motion is a workable proposal. What we are proposing has been well done elsewhere and it can be done here too. The TV licence as we know it has got to go. It is out of date, it does not align with the needs of public service content creators or broadcasters and it is not delivering value for money for taxpayers. We need a model that delivers and sustains vibrant and diverse public sector broadcasting and an independent media sector. The Sinn Féin proposal to abolish the licence fee and instead directly invest Exchequer funding in a platform-neutral media fund would support RTÉ and TG4 as well as the public service content production and activities of commercial, local and community providers. It would provide multi-annual funding. There would be an independent body to advise on the funding requirements and, importantly, there would be Government accountability for any deviation from the advice received. Deviation would only be permissible in exceptional circumstances. TG4 currently operates on a similar model, which gives a clear precedent that this will work.

People will no longer be taken for mugs when it comes to the TV licence. They know they are not getting value for money. This issue has been talked about for far too long. We were talking about it long before the flip-flop scandal or any other scandal broke in RTÉ. It needs to be acted on sooner rather than later. We need to stop talking about it and act on it.

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