Eamon Ryan (Dublin Bay South, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I can understand what Senator McDowell is saying in terms of evasion. We all know that dealing with bills and all the different components of that is horrible. However, there is a fundamental need for us to have decent public service broadcasting. I commend what the Minister has said, considering the hundreds of millions of euro which go out of the country to Sky without any regulation, and it may be that the advent of Brexit brings that into a more regulated space without any real contribution from that organisation to Irish public service broadcasting. The hundreds of millions that probably go to Facebook, Google and other companies which are, in effect, broadcasting here might also have to be considered in the mix. Hopefully, the committee can look at this in our work programme. It may be one of those issues where, while there may not be Cabinet agreement on doing something, the Minister's Department needs to start work. We cannot just leave it hanging. Even if it is not done in the next year or two, the Department could at least prepare for it to be done in two or three years time. It must include online, satellite and, as the Minister has suggested, cable.