Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On programme B, is the Minister satisfied with the way in which matters have been panning out with RTE in recent years? Is he satisfied that the position regarding the collection of the licence fee has become more sustainable? The rate of non-payment hovers between 14% and 17% of all households or premises. I am concerned that "Viper"-style tactics will be used to collect the licence fee, with An Post being moved out of the way and a heavier handed approach being taken. None of us would like this to happen. I have made suggestions to the Minister on how to address this issue because none of us wants the licence fee to be increased. The obvious course of action for a business experiencing a rate of default on payments of 17% would be to capture payment from those in default. The key issue is to avoid increasing the licence fee for householders. I do not use language such as the term "consumers". This is supposed to be a republic and we should refer to citizens accessing or using services rather than consumers consuming goods. People should be treated as human beings, not consumers.

If we do not do this right, the licence fee will increase. I do not need to rehearse the arguments on the use of flat-rate fees. A single parent on €221 per week has to find the same amount of money as those on much higher incomes, including the Minister and me. The same applies in the case of a person on the minimum wage. The licence fee should not increase for these people.

Maintaining public service broadcasting means ensuring its financing is placed on a sustainable footing. The best way to achieve this is to reduce the level of non-payment among households and premises, rather than hiking the cost of the licence fee for people on low incomes, including single parents, those who are in receipt of social welfare payments and individuals who make beds and clean rooms in hotels for the minimum wage. The cost must be spread by capturing more of the population. I have made suggestions to the Minister on how this can be achieved, including through the use of modern technology, suppliers and service providers.

I am glad Senator Leyden raised the issue of the gender pay disparity in RTE. Claire Byrne comes from my home town of Mountrath in County Laois. I cannot figure out why someone like Ms Byrne is on less money than a male colleague doing the same job. I do not get why Sharon Ní Bheoláin, who co-presents "Six One", is paid less than the male newscaster sitting beside her. However, I also do not get why people are being paid €400,000 per annum to talk to people on the telephone for one hour per day.

Sinn Féin has raised the issue of bogus self-employment in the context of workers being disadvantaged, particularly in the construction industry where employers use bogus self-employment. I understand certain staff in RTE are not direct employees. Given the power of the State and legal profession, surely we can do something about this practice in the public service broadcaster. Nobody, not even God almighty, is worth €400,000.

A good point was made about the commentariat. We hear the same stuffy old heads on radio shows every weekend. On the issue of casting the net wider, it took Sinn Féin two years to get one person onto a certain weekend radio programme. This was 15 years after section 31 had been abolished as a result of one of the good deeds of Uachtarán na hÉireann, Michael D. Higgins, when he was a Minister.