Mr. David Nally:

----- the idea that you could cover it up would have been ridiculous on our part, but I accept the point that we should have said it ourselves, rather than allowing someone else to say it on the programme. That is something we do try and do but we do not always get it right and it is a good point.

Regarding the people in the audience on "Claire Byrne Live", everyone who applies for a seat in the audience through e-mail or by telephone is asked to say whether they are a member of a political party or a campaigning group. We keep a list and when they arrive on the night they have to sign the declaration on whether they are a member of a political party or campaigning group. It is not with a view to excluding any political party or campaigning group, it is just so we know that if the person puts up their hand and makes a comment, and if they do not say they are a member of a party or group, then we are in a position to say it. We get that. I am not aware of any recent incidents where one slipped by. They can slip by from time to time, but we do our absolute best to not let anyone speak on the programme without declaring their political interest. "Questions & Answers" was a very good programme, but the idea that there was no unfair talk about plants and political bias in regard to it is somewhat rose tinted, if the committee does not mind me saying so. It was constantly being accused of having a biased audience and of having plants in the audience. Political parties across the spectrum were constantly unhappy that the programme was supposedly biased against them. That was also true of "Today Tonight" and of "Seven Days". It has always been the case with RTE.