Ms Dee Forbes:

I thank the Deputy for his comments about our performance in the last year.

I am proud of everybody who has stood up during that time. I thank the Deputy for those comments.

It is important to make a couple of comments on DAB. The DAB trial operated for more than ten years. There was no take-up from industry around that. Neither was there an ongoing plan to have a wider policy in respect of DAB. Hence, we took the decision to close it, really as a future cost-avoidance measure rather than anything else. There was also the fact that, in the main, listenership to FM in this country is strong. It remains the key area. It is also important to say that broadcasting generally, both radio and television, is now moving to an Internet protocol, IP, base anyway. Our focus now is very much around how we can create an audio product for the future that will serve the needs of the audiences in that way. DAB was put in place many years ago. There was no take-up from industry or the audience. Hence, a decision was taken to shut it down.