Michael Lowry (Tipperary, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the TV3 representatives for the informative contribution that they have made to today's meeting. I admire the success of TV3. I would compare TV3 to any business. Every business in the past eight to ten years has struggled and it is a credit to TV3 that it has managed to survived in a difficult market. Since the investment of Virgin Media, it is clear that there is an improvement in the content, range and quality of programming on TV3. It is nice to see that progression. In particular, I can see an improvement in the presentation of TV3's programme. I suppose that comes from the philosophy of paying for what one can afford. Clearly TV3 would not be able to compete in the marketplace, in terms of professionals and personnel, unless they were being adequately recompensed.

I always had a difficulty with RTE in terms of public service. Some people think that they have a job for life and should have a life, and all that one gets when one reprogrammes is a change in the deck chairs. There have been constraints on TV3 because of the commercial nature of the business and because it must work to survive and there is no lifeboat if it is not economically viable. All I would suggest is that in its recent presentations, TV3 should allow a bit of slack in the wardrobe allowance because I was looking at Ivan Yates recently and I have to say he needs some assistance in that area.

Could Mr. Kiely be more specific in what he means when he asked the committee to reassess TV3's contribution to public service broadcasting? He mentioned that there should be more collaboration between RTE and TV3 on production. In particular, Mr. Kiely mentioned the shared diaspora channel. What did Mr. Kiely mean, in layman's language, when he referred to those two items?

Senator McDowell referred to advertising. What is the criteria at work? Who makes the decision or what protection has TV3 against RTE in terms of how that money is distributed for advertising? Who is the regulator in that regard? Who makes the decisions on what proportion of what goes where?

Brexit was mentioned and it was pointed out it will impact on TV3's advertising. In what way will it impact and how severe will it be?