Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank Ms Ní Raghallaigh. I was just looking at the clock ticking. One issue has been and ought to be a bone of contention for everybody in RTÉ and this is pay disparity between Irish-language workers and their English-language counterparts. I have raised this topic with witnesses from the organisation at numerous committee meetings, including at the Committee of Public Accounts. To say we were fobbed off would be an understatement. A review was promised but nothing was heard. We chased it up and continued to do so. On pressing the issue, we discovered the review initially promised to examine this issue, even though it was known about for years and was just ignored, to be honest, did not include the disparity of pay between Irish-language workers and English-language workers.

A response was given to the committee in correspondence where it was stated the review will not differentiate roles by language requirement and that the salary scales are based on responsibilities and not on language. It is clear, however, that those working in the Irish language sector are performing exactly the same tasks as those working in the English language. It seems unacceptable, especially for a public service broadcaster, to have this type of discrimination in pay scales. I submitted an amendment to the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill but the Government voted against it. From that perspective, there was no interest from Government quarters in respect of addressing this pay disparity. I put this point to Ms Ní Raghallaigh as the new chair. Would she think it is totally unacceptable, to put it mildly, that this sort of discrimination exists? What would she do to change this situation and put it right?