Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise on behalf of Deputy Michael Moynihan, the Fianna Fáil spokesperson on communications, who is unable to be present. I have no intention of getting into people's salaries. That issue is often thrown at politicians and we rail against it. I am more interested in examining the overall financial position of RTE. I thank Mr. Curran for his comprehensive presentation, which set out many of the issues we discussed the last time he appeared before the committee. He stated the deficit this year would run to approximately €60 million. Does that put the company under significant pressure? Is it funded to the end of the year without making additional cuts to wages or staff reductions over and above what has been identified? Does RTE have to make further payroll savings next year by way of wage or staff reductions?

With regard to the modernisation of the organisation, Mr. Curran has identified a state of flux on the news and current affairs side. Has a strategic review been conducted of its structure, recognising the development in technology, etc.? We regularly meet representatives of independent broadcasters and RTE's competitors in television and they have much leaner operations in place. I do not take from the work RTE does as a public service provider. That programming requires additional staff and so on. Has the authority examined the overall tapestry of the organisation from a modernisation perspective to consider right sizing it from a cost saving point of view?

The position of chief financial officer is still vacant after ten or 11 months. What action is being taken to fill that position? What kind of recruitment process will be put in place? Will the position be publicly advertised and dealt with in the normal way?

With regard to news and current affairs, when Mr. Bakhurst last appeared before the committee, he was new in the position. Mr. Curran clearly outlined the background to the issues that had arisen. I recall terms like "groupthink" and references to a haphazard approach to the delineation of responsibility, particularly in the context of Tweetgate. There was a conflict at the time between who was in charge. What structures has Mr. Bakhurst put in place to ensure such issues do not arise again? Mr. Curran referred to the editorial board, which will be helpful. What ongoing monitoring will be in place to ensure this does not happen again?