Mr. S?amus Dooley:

Absolutely. I think the rejection of that was an act, not just of folly but of cowardice. I feel very strongly about it. I reject the argument that it in some way opened up the way for political interference. My view is that the lack of funding and the lack of action on the collection of the licence fee is itself is a form of political interference. Political indifference or inaction has had consequences. I was a bit confused by the concept of appointing a commission. I recognise that you do not have to accept all of the recommendations but you appoint a commission of experts to do a job. They made a key recommendation and the response was to appoint a committee of experts to find an alternative recommendation. I thought we entered into "Alice in Wonderland" territory on that one. The problem with it is that every day of delay brings uncertainty in relation to the prospect of the development of public service broadcasting in this country.

There is a lot in the commission report, including a lot of very positive developments. It is a very useful framework. However, on the issue of public service broadcasting, it was a significant disappointment. I also think that it is disappointing that the Government would not have confidence in its own ability to put in transparent structures to ensure that interference does not occur. Interference can take many forms.