David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I know there is a briefing note but when a witness comes before the Committee on Public Accounts, it is in public session. The people who are watching, the public who we represent, do not have those briefing notes. They will only have or can see what Ms Forbes read out, her opening statement. It is all very wonderful that she has alerted the committee to her concerns about the licence fee, which is an issue worthy of its consideration, but members wanted to discuss what they saw as very important issues. I wanted to put some context on her remarks, as I am somewhat disappointed that it did not feature in the opening statement because it is a real problem. Incidentally, the reason Ms Forbes was invited before the committee was because the Accounting Officer, who is the Secretary General of the Department, was not in a position to answer specific questions members had. A large chunk of its voted expenditure goes to RTÉ - I believe it is €170 million of taxpayers' money - and there must be some level of public accountability.

How much of RTÉ's funding comes from the taxpayer, whether directly or indirectly?