Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That concludes our hearing for today. I thank all the witnesses for being here. These are difficult meetings but they have been very helpful. I especially thank the members of the board for being here. For some, it might be their last opportunity to be in front of the committee. I thank Mr. Murphy and Mr. Hickey for diligently being with us via MS Teams for almost the past four hours. I also thank Ms Ní Raghallaigh and Mr. Bakhurst for being with us.

I wish the board the very best of luck. We all accept it is not an easy job. I was heartened today to hear each and every one of the witnesses suggest that things are different and that there is the transparency there and a shift in culture. This is extremely important because ultimately, as someone alluded to, the board members are the custodians of RTÉ. We want to see that public service broadcasting is in a very good place in future. We all need it. We need it for democracy, for civil society and for our culture. I wish the board the best of luck with that. I am sure this will not be the last hearing we will have but this meeting has been useful and helpful.

I also thank my colleagues who, in fairness, have driven from all parts of the island to be here too, including from County Kerry and places as far flung as Leitrim, Roscommon, Galway and even Dublin 4, a few miles out the road. I thank them for coming in during the middle of their break. We also appreciate all the members of the media who have been here diligently sitting through our hearings. I also thank the clerk to the committee and all her team. They have been working diligently and quietly, but certainly keeping us on track and on message. This concludes our business for today.