Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and thank them for attending. The report was submitted to the Minister last July and I was extremely interested in the key findings. The witnesses are saying that RTE is not living within its budget and they agree that it needs more money. This is sort of being held against local radio stations as the witnesses have said four times that they are profitable and working away. The witnesses can contradict me if I am wrong. Have they indicated that local radio stations are okay paddling their own boat without State funding as they can manage? We all agree they are providing an excellent service. In my own case of Radio Kerry, the people of the county live and breathe their local radio station, which tells people who is dead, what the people who are alive are doing and keeps them informed about sport and everything else that is important to them and their families. I would go as far as saying that Radio Kerry is the lifeline of older people.

The witnesses are indicating that the likes of Radio Kerry are profitable and managing so they do not need assistance. They are surviving because they must do so; there is nobody throwing money at them, which is what is happening at RTE and what the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, wants to continue supporting. I have nothing against RTE or our national broadcasters-----