Ms Teresa Hannick:

The problem, as I said, is that RTÉ has a remit to create drama that employs local talent, whether in front of or behind the camera. Does it view the big sporting occasions as having more of a commercial draw? It is a problem when one is being weighed against the other. It goes back to what we say about the funding of RTÉ. It is a public service broadcaster but there is a huge push towards commercialisation. That is why we see the threat of outsourcing directly employed jobs. The myth is put out that this is a more creative way of doing things. There is of course a huge amount of creative talent in the independent sector. However, it is a way of commercialising operations. Many of our members have had a belief and fear for a long time that there is a privatisation of RTÉ going on. It might be going on by stealth. It would not be the first commercial State or semi-State body to which that has happened under this Government.

They have never ended well for the people of this country. They have ended well for any kind of investor or hedge fund manager but we have lost out. We should not be here today. We should be trying to protect RTÉ as a public service broadcaster, with what it brings to our art, culture, news, information, democracy and society. We should not be selling it to the highest bidder.