Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to move on to the bigger picture. This is a direct political concern. When Kevin Bakhurst came before us, he indicated that some of the areas he would be looking at possibly reducing funding for included coverage of the local and European elections and also possibly ard-fheiseanna and party conferences. From a political point of view, public service broadcasting can be vital to a democracy. If RTÉ was to decide to reduce funding in that area, would the Minister consider opening up the tender in some way for other public broadcasters to be able to apply to provide the services? I appreciate that the Minister cannot interfere but this is something Mr. Bakhurst told our committee.