Mr. Kevin Bakhurst:

Impartiality is core to what we do and there are a number of ways we measure it across news and current affairs output. There are reviews within the programme teams and weekly reviews of output. We have a new political assignments editor, Ms Deirdre McCarthy, who is doing a very good job of taking a view across RTE's political output and whether various party and individual views are getting a fair airing. I have frequent discussions with her about that. For example, on "Prime Time" there is a very detailed log of who is interviewed and about what they have been interviewed, and I review this every couple of months to ensure the parties are getting a fair and proportionate amount of air time.

There was a comment about backgrounds and policy. It is important that across the piece people and parties get a fair crack of the whip in terms of air time to put policies across and discuss them. There are areas of background and historical issues that are unresolved and we should look into them. That may concern what happened to banks, the outcome of the Moriarty tribunal or the Troubles in the North from the perspective of both sides. There are many questions still to be answered by individuals and it is part of our job to keep examining matters and asking questions.