Mr. Kevin Bakhurst:

The Chairman raises a valid question for us. It is not a new departure for RTE on some of our main talk shows like "The Late Late Show" or "The Saturday Night Show" to have current affairs or political figures or the like appear on them.

We have kept track in the past 12 or 18 months of the range of people who have appeared on these programmes to ensure a fair range of views across the political spectrum. It has become more formalised. If “The Late Late Show” or “The Saturday Night Show” intends to invite a political figure on to the show, before the bid is made, those involved with the shows will appear before the steering committee, the director general or me to ensure we know where the people to be invited have appeared before. They can make the argument as to why they want to speak to them, about what they want to speak to them and so forth. There is a process, even before the interview bids are made, to make sure there is a balance over time in the people who appear on these high profile programmes.

The interviews on these shows are of a different nature. Someone appearing on “The Late Late Show” or “The Saturday Night Show” will expect to have a different kind of interview than on “Prime Time” or “Claire Byrne Live”. Sometimes it might be more personalised than on a Radio 1 programme, for example. A lot of preparation goes into these interviews, with an input from figures in news and current affairs when they are lined up. There is close liaison between Mr. David Nally and the television division in talking through the interviews and the areas that might be covered.