Timmy Dooley (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Ms Ní Raghallaigh and Dr. Mathews. I congratulate Ms Ní Raghallaigh on taking on the role as chairperson of RTÉ at a time it is pretty difficult to get people to take on those kinds of onerous positions given the criticism they come in for when they step forward. She deserves recognition and credit for taking on that role and, as others have said, bringing her very considerable background knowledge and experience, which, of course, will be a help.

I want to deal with that matter regarding the leak from the board in the first instance. It has put Ms Ní Raghallaigh in a difficult position and that is really unfortunate as she has just stepped into the role. It is pretty wrong of somebody who sits on a board or members on a board who should know their fiduciary duty to the company. They have done a disservice to the organisation and to all those who work in it when a process is established that they are not prepared to follow. That is unfortunate. I do not know what Ms Ní Raghallaigh can do about it, quite frankly. As others have said, leaks happen. It is a bit of a difference between leaks between politicians and others, however. When a person is appointed to a board, he or she has a fiduciary duty and is paid to do job, and that has been lost. Does Ms Ní Raghallaigh think it will impact at all on her ability to engage with the executive? She said she has undertaken a strategic review with the executive. If I was an executive in RTÉ, I would be concerned perhaps about sharing my views with the board now where I might not feel that I have the capacity for it to remain within the four walls. Is that something she has a concern about?

I have a very strong belief about the importance of a public service broadcaster quite apart from any other media. Ms Ní Raghallaigh has rightly identified that is set out in her obligations in legislation and that puts a significant burden on her. The question I always ask is whether we as a society believe in public service broadcasting. If the answer to that is "Yes", it is a duty on us as politicians to pay for it and find a way to do that. In that context, what more does Ms Ní Raghallaigh think Government or Government bodies can do to support and protect the integrity of the public service media at a time there are unprecedented challenges, particularly from technological advances? I am inviting Ms Ní Raghallaigh to come back at us and tell us what more we should do.

What does she see as the biggest challenges of the next three years in her organisation? Has she had any sense of how the board intends to deal with the funding challenge? Everybody has referred to it. When I was previously an Opposition spokesperson in this area, I prepared a paper that recommended a public service broadcasting charge on the basis that, as Ms Ní Raghallaigh has identified, the consumption of media is now on an iPhone, smartphone, iPad or whatever and, rightly, people do not have to pay a licence fee quite simply because they are not breaking the laws but they are consuming media. That is growing in more and more homes. It is a bit like new building regulations that require people not to have a chimney. It is almost now that a person is not required to have a television either because he or she can consume all the media in that way. For me, the broadcasting charge was the obvious one because it broadened the base and retained that link between people believing that they were paying for something they were getting rather than just putting a further burden on general taxation. I always liked the idea that it is no different from paying for electricity. Most people pay for cable or Sky, as I do. People have no problem paying for Sky. Some have a problem paying for a licence. I do not get it but, obviously, others do. Ms Ní Raghallaigh might try to answer some of those questions.