Marc Ó Cathasaigh (Waterford, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

With regard to future governance, I had hoped there would be a future focus today. I will go back to the issue of the register of interests, which is something Mr. Bakhurst has committed to. As I have said before, there is clear blue water between the programmes and ad breaks. People understand that ads are paid for. That is quite different from commercial sponsorship and very different from product placement, which is a much more opaque way of selling material. In December of last year, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Environment and Climate Action heard about the role of advertising, specifically with regard to climate coverage. Something the committee heard is that members of the editorial staff sit on the internal sponsorship committee. The Chinese wall is quite clear between advertising revenue and content. One does not talk to the other, nor should it. However, there is no doubt but that money buys influence. We have to be straight and honest about that. Is it appropriate for editorial staff to sit on an internal sponsorship committee? While I am only giving Mr. Bakhurst 60 seconds, which is not much, I am giving him the opportunity to lay out his plans regarding the establishment of a register of interest because it should be clear if presenters or senior executives are getting money from someplace else, just as it is and should be for politicians.

What are RTÉ's plans to make clear to the public what influence money is buying?