Ms Dee Forbes:

I do not have that information to hand because it was not on the agenda. Very broadly, we have been looking at our resources for many years, as the Senator knows. We have had a number of initiatives to look at staffing. It is also important to note that our role and the remit we must fulfil is very demanding. Staff are in place to fulfil those services. In the briefing note there was a table showing the other public service broadcasters in Europe of comparable size to RTÉ and overall staff numbers. One can see we are very comparable or even below other broadcasters of our level. We have been assessed many times by independent entities on the right staffing levels for RTÉ and we are there or thereabouts.

More reductions in staff now would be linked with reductions in service. We all know that is not right because that would be a reduced service to the public. This is an ongoing area for consideration and we look at it constantly but this is very challenging. It is also very challenging in an environment where we need new skills. There has been much talk today around digital and technology and such areas are very expensive to hire into. Those people are in high demand. We have a constant challenge to facilitate both new skills coming in while maintaining our current services. That is where we are.