Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the delegation from RTE. I am declaring an interest because for most of my working life, I have earned an income from RTE, although I am not at present. That is no reflection on RTE or on myself, it is just the nature of freelance broadcasting, as my titular head in radio, Clare Duignan, would testify. I say that because it pains me that these people are colleagues and this is an institution for which I have enormous respect. That respect is not is always conveyed by the general public, but they vote with their feet in that they watch and listen to RTE more than any other channel. It is obviously doing something right and has been doing so for a long time so it pains me that when something like "The Frontline" programme comes up, no more than "A Mission to Prey", RTE finds itself under this spotlight and seems to be squirming because of failures in processes. I compliment Noel Curran in particular in outlining all that has happened since the debate on "The Frontline" programme, and the report by Steve Carson and Bob Morrison suggests strongly that whatever failings there were in "The Frontline" programme, they will not be repeated.

Mr. Curran has to a degree underestimated the impact of RTE. That edition of "The Frontline" was the start of a sequence that was a game changer. The impact on the night certainly influenced the outcome of the election. I must also say, and again this is painful because no one has talked about the elephant in the room, that Seán Gallagher was probably the greatest victim. He was ahead in the polls by 15% but when we look at the content and the manner in which the questions were responded to, he caused himself enormous difficulties, no matter what was the programme format. The public perception following the programme and the subsequent interviews saw him create a lot of difficulties for himself. That is a purely subjective point of view. In that context, should a debate of this importance, about electing the President, be held so close to an election where there is little time to recover ground if it is lost? I am not sure if debates so close to an election happen in other democracies.

There is currently a television series on BBC called "The Hour". One of the interesting things about it is that there is nearly always someone in the gallery to oversee the line producer. I am sure it must have been a surprise that there was not someone in a position of editorial control that night in RTE. What steps have been taken to ensure this does not happen again?

The public service obligation is core issue for RTE. Unless it is seen to be impartial on current affairs and news in particular, people's trust in RTE will diluted to some degree. The essence of public service broadcasting, of which I am a firm and strong supporter, is constantly being challenged. Are the witnesses happy the processes that have been put in place for training, particularly for those who are coming in and out of the station, who are not necessarily part of the public service culture, to which both I and the witnesses all subscribe and which we understand, will make people more aware of the public service obligation?