Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The first thing that jumps out of this motion is the suggestion that the licence payer should stop paying and we should invest Exchequer funding in a platform-neutral media fund. Money does not grow on trees and, at the end of the day, it is all taxpayers’ money, so what Sinn Féin is doing is asking the people to stop paying and then the Exchequer will pay. The Exchequer has no money unless we put the money into it in the first instance, so we would need more clarity about where the money is actually to come from.

This debate is welcome in that wrongdoing has happened with the expenditure at RTÉ and, of course, the fat has to be trimmed from what it is doing. However, the question we have to ask is whether we want a national broadcaster. Obviously, we do, but we want it to be effective and work-person-like. We do not want waste and we do not want the largesse that was going on out there.

We also want there to be fairness in Irish media. In my county, I want Radio Kerry to be funded and to have a fair crack of the whip. It provides an invaluable service. There are people who work their lives around their local radio station. They actually set the time they eat and the time they rest from their work by it. When they go on a journey in the car, they know who is coming on the radio, and they time their day around the local radio station. We have to acknowledge that, admire it and also fund it. We have to help to have a level playing field. Nonetheless, we have to agree that we need a national broadcaster. RTÉ has done a lot of good. It might have done harm but it has also done a lot of good.

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