Mr. Rory Coveney:

On the last question, the decision around the governance arrangements for the future of the National Symphony Orchestra was not for RTÉ to make on its own. Talking about a mixed funding model in which a direct Exchequer grant, commercial income and a proportion of RTÉ's public funding support the orchestra prompts the question as to where that newly-funded entity should sit. Two options were reviewed. Ultimately it was a choice for Government to either accept or not. The alternative is just to fund RTÉ properly. One could argue that if the licence fee collection system were fixed, some of these issues might go away. In fairness to Mr. Horsman, who may wish to comment, the report does deal with some of the more creative issues around the future vision of what the orchestra should do and around whether it is optimal in any event, notwithstanding the financial position that both orchestras should be within one organisation. Both views have their pros and cons, but this is not purely a financial decision.

On the issue of RTÉ using the orchestras' story as a way of highlighting its financial woes, it does not bear out. The review substantively dealt with the future of orchestras in great detail. We were at a crossroads. Frankly, the status quoaround orchestras is not sustainable or tenable. We are obliged to do something, as the petition states. That something is now a roadmap. Does it highlight some of the broader issues that relate to RTÉ's funding and the cutbacks it has had to make over the last ten years? Perhaps, but that is unavoidable considering the scale of the change we have had to make in recent years.