Mr. John Purcell:

What is often overlooked in the debate on the TV licence broadcasting charge is that, regardless of whether one calls it a TV licence or a broadcasting charge, adherence levels are currently in the region of 80% to 85%. Changing the name of the charge is not a substantive issue.

On Deputy Dooley's point about a them-and-us approach with regard to RTE, we entirely agree. We believe that more unites rather than separates us. In our discussions over the years with RTE we have found a lot of common ground in terms of its accepting our bona fides and vice versa- we recognise it has faced many legitimate issues and needs support.

On the question of whether money for the independent sector would come at the expense of RTE, I will hand over to my colleague.