Mr. Brian Dalton:

I am working in the area of restructuring and had spent all my life in private industry until I joined RTE. One needs to consider RTE as a not-for-profit organisation. Clearly we all have to exploit commercial opportunity from our public services. However, we need to consider the range and depth of the output, including Raidió na Gaeltachta and the performing groups. Clearly we need to achieve very high standards in efficiency and value for money. I have been involved in very significant restructuring of a very large scale in the private sector. To achieve 30% over the period the director general mentioned through partnership with the trade union group is very significant. That change has been achieved because of the not-for-profit ethos and the full range and quality of the services to which our staff are absolutely committed.

When it comes to modernisation of the structure, we look at the very best practice across Europe. We are living in a converged media world and we are adopting best work practices in terms of multimedia, multi-skills and flexibility to ensure we provide the best possible services to our audience. It is important that a symphony orchestra or a concert orchestra has a particular size. An Irish language radio station must have a core to ensure it produces quality services. Many of the activities in which we are engaged are not commercial. We are highly regulated. On average we are limited to six minutes advertising per hour on television. It is important that we look at the totality of what we do and the breadth of our services. At the same time, the scale of adjustment, with more than 500 people leaving the organisation, the adjustment to payroll and the productivity agreements that have been negotiated, are very significant.