Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

That is true. In fairness, when we get that we can have a debate again. It would have been better if he had got the framework ahead of budget day as he said he was going to. The Minister talked about the culture change. Let us call a spade a spade; RTÉ has a commercial arm and we had a situation previously where it made in excess of 70% of its income from that arm. If any other business was in here and in trouble, we would look at how it is able to generate income. RTÉ, unlike the BBC, has the ability to generate income from its commercial arm and in the first instance we should be pressing it on how it is maximising that. The broadcaster admitted its income from commercial activity is up this year, primarily due to big events like the Rugby World Cup. Seeing as RTÉ is coming up with the hand out again, what are the Minister's demands from it with respect to its commercial activity and how it is able to drive and improve its income without making the ask of taxpayer in the first instance? That is my gripe. Reading the statements of both Mr. Bakhurst and Ms Ní Raghallaigh, it seems to be laid at our doorstep; it is as if it is our fault there is an issue with RTÉ.