Mr. Ed Mulhall:

I am no longer involved in RTE so that caveat is there. I am very proud of the journalistic work done by specialists during that period at a time when many other things were difficult. I have genuine concerns about the maintenance of specialties within journalism and public broadcasting. That is an ongoing concern and there are issues about the transparency of how broadcasting is regulated and funded. I have concerns about these things and, even with the flawed performance of RTE in news and current affairs, I have concerns for the future about whether we will be able to sustain the investment required for these. It is not just about here but also internationally. There was a big international component to this so it is a major challenge for public broadcasting.

I have also gone into the other side of the question, about the inquiry. There is a major challenge in respect of fact finding in the nexus phase. The inquiry can have a real impact on an area where it has the power within its parties. For example, Deputy Michael McGrath asked me about the previous election in 2007. It would be good journalistic practice to have some way whereby party promises could be evaluated by some independent body that people buy into in order that we can get away from one party promising to cut something without it being costed or evaluated. That would assist matters, as happens in Holland.