Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses, and Mr. Bakhurst in particular. In an earlier response, he mentioned his dealings with staff and his interactions with them. On my way to the committee room, I heard Emma O'Kelly of the RTÉ branch of the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, on the "News At One" with Bryan Dobson. Ms O'Kelly, who is RTÉ's education correspondent, expressed the worries of staff following Mr. Bakhurst's announcement of a recruitment freeze. She sought clarification about that. She said that "once again .... ordinary workers are going to bear the brunt" for a crisis they did not cause. She referred to it as a "governance crisis" caused by decisions made "at the very top", but suggested that "ordinary workers seem to be bearing the brunt". They are powerful words from a senior journalist in this country who has the respect of the public. I ask Mr. Bakhurst whether Emma O'Kelly is right. Will ordinary journalists in his organisation now bear the brunt for what has happened, for this mess and for this lack of governance at a time when top executives are getting their pay reinstated and ex-presenters are going off into the sunset? Is Emma O'Kelly right?