Mr. Séamus Dooley:

They are deriving a very poor income and in doing so are serving the public interest, which is why I am advocating that there would be a public interest test. Not all media have a commercial agenda, of course. RTE is not allowed to make a profit. There is no shame in making money; I just wish our members had a greater share of it. However, the reality is that there is currently a financial crisis within the media. Many organisations are put to the pin of their collar to survive. It is hard to separate the dancer from the dance. It is hard to say that one can charge them because they are making money, but the fact is that the imperative to make money comes from the accountants. The latter are the same people who will be querying the editorial bill and saying "Did you really have to make that freedom of information request? Why did we spend money on a series of requests when we got no return because you didn't get the information?". That balance has to be struck, therefore. My colleagues may wish to come in on this as well.