Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the RTE representatives for attending. Like the previous speakers, I support much of the work RTE does. In particular, initiatives in recent years like "Love/Hate" have lifted the bar. However, we would be failing in our duty in this committee if we did not separate what RTE is doing well from what it could be doing better.

Following on from what previous speakers said about sustainability, and salaries in particular, the company might bemoan the fact that a high profile figure has left RTE but there must be a differentiation between RTE and the others. RTE is a public company and they are not, and there is a greater expectation on the part of the public of RTE in the same way as it has a greater expectation of us. Some of the figures on presenters' pay that emanate from RTE are still far too excessive for people to accept. I find it particularly irritating to hear somebody on a Saturday or Sunday morning trawl through what Deputies, Senators, councillors, the Taoiseach and Ministers earn, quite rightly, when she might be earning twice or three times what the Taoiseach or a Minister earns. Until recently she might have earned twice what the President of the United States of America earns, and currently she earns more than the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany. People find that hard to take, particularly given that RTE, as an organisation, would require additional supports from the taxpayer by way of the broadcasting charge. They might appreciate there is a public service element to that but we are all in this together and nobody can be excluded from the type of haircuts that are required. Certain personalities in RTE seem to be insulated in terms of their salary, which I do not believe has been taken seriously enough. The representatives will respond by saying that some people's salaries were cut by 17%, 20% or 30% but that is not the point. The point is that the baseline figure was ridiculous in terms of what one would expect from a public service entity. Those Celtic tiger baseline figures must be forgotten and salaries benchmarked on what is sustainable in 2014, and I do not believe RTE has reached those figures yet.
I refer to an issue very close to home. It is a bugbear of mine which I have raised here previously with the representatives. "Oireachtas Report" is probably RTE's only interaction with the public in terms of the work done by this committee, for example. "Oireachtas Report" appears to be broadcast for the benefit of insomniacs, people home from the pub where they should not be or those working nights. It is broadcast at a very bad time. Some people might believe we do not do much in these Houses but RTE broadcasting the programme at a time when it does not expect people to watch it, perhaps only very small numbers, is in stark contrast to what UPC has done with broadcasting Oireachtas debates. It started broadcasting them on I believe Channel 800 on a trial basis. I believe it is now broadcasting them on Channel 200, which proves that people tune into us. I am sure there are people tuned into what is happening in the Dáil Chamber now but one cannot find those debates on RTE on a daily basis. One must either go online to the Oireachtas website or watch them on the UPC channel. If we contrast that with BBC Parliament, it broadcasts proceedings from the national Parliament on a daily basis. As legislators we are criticised about attention to detail and so on, and rightly so, but when people tune into "Oireachtas Report" they see only two people sitting in the Dáil Chamber. They do not see the people working in the four committee rooms questioning people such as the representatives. That is a disservice to democracy and as the public service broadcaster, RTE has an onus to address that.
Mention was made of 2FM. I was particularly disappointed with the representatives' reply in that regard. 2FM broadcast a strong flagship programme from Limerick. RTE closed the London office, which was probably the wrong action to take at the time. Last night, we saw Sharon Ní Bheoláin broadcasting from in front of Buckingham Palace. It was obvious that there was not a London office from which to do that, yet that office could make a huge difference in terms of the upcoming state visit by the President to the United Kingdom and so on. RTE broadcast a very successful programme daily from Limerick and it was scrapped. As a result, 15,000 people went on Facebook to try to have it returned but they were unsuccessful. I wonder about RTE's commitment to the regions, particularly given that show had a huge listenership and traction, yet it was scrapped. In the Limerick area 45% of the listenership do not listen to 2FM; it is only 11%. However, that programme broadcast in the regions was ended.
In terms of what people are doing when they are watching programmes, those watching the Ukranian-Russian events proved what people are doing when they are watching RTE; they are tweeting. I know RTE had a severe technical glitch the day of that broadcast, which in fairness was addressed, but it proves that people are engaging with the broadcaster, yet sometimes the broadcaster is behind the curve in regard to that engagement.
Mr. Bakhurst might reply to this question. What level of monitoring does RTE do of the tweets and online traction in response to the programmes it broadcasts, and how does it improve programming as a result? Consumers using Twitter or Facebook to make a complaint is better than sending in a postcard.
People are often critical of RTE, and I am one of them. We expect a great deal from the public service broadcaster but the annual Christmas schedule is like the recurring problem of the weight of schoolbags or the back to school costs for parents, and invariably there is a post mortem of the schedule after Christmas. On behalf of people sitting at home at Christmas and as a member of this committee, I decided to watch RTE but if we compare an RTE Guidefrom three years ago to this year's RTE Guide, "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is still on the schedule, as is "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang". New Year's Eve is supposed to be a happy night but this year RTE wheeled out a person who is on the radio Monday to Friday. I accept he serves an important role in terms of listening to people's concerns but New Year's Eve is supposed to be a happy night, yet in the countdown to 2014 we had to listen to everything that went wrong in 2013 - talk about starting off the year on a happy note. If RTE expects people to stay at home and not go to the pub, and in fairness RTE did not encourage me to go to the pub, would it please look at these schedules?