Mr. Tim Collins:

I have two points on Deputy Michael Colreavy's comments. I agree with the Deputy that it is necessary in certain circumstances for RTE to chase ratings. The very successful series "Love/Hate" was huge and RTE got great ratings from it. RTE looks for ratings also through broadcasting and funding Champions League soccer, "Grey's Anatomy" and a lot of other imported content. Our point is that it might perhaps serve the public interest in a television market that is rapidly fragmenting if RTE were to concentrate on content from and about Ireland. There are many people in RTE who would agree with that view.

I agree with Deputy Colreavy that it is impractical in a country the size of Ireland for RTE not to be dual-funded. While we recognise that it needs commercial revenue, RTE is operating with a massive competitive advantage, which should be constrained in some way. The first constraint should be that no new service or activity should be permitted for RTE unless it passes a test showing that it is in the public interest and does not unfairly compete with broadcasters already providing that service in the market. We need a debate on what we want our national broadcaster to do in the public interest. Perhaps programmes such as "Wagons' Den" are not a priority, whereas good drama and programmes such as "Prime Time" are. There are many things RTE does not do, such as educational programming, that it should be doing and would do if it had a different focus. We think all of that is achievable within a properly funded system.