Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Often the wording is important. In terms of page 25 and the recommendation on bringing RTÉ back under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General, the response is that the Minister for public expenditure is informed by the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media that the recommendation is accepted in principle by Government, noting that such a recommendation has also been made by the expert advisory group commissioned by the Government to review the governance and culture of RTÉ. It goes on to say that the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media further notes that ultimately this matter will require a further Government decision as it relates to an amendment of existing legislation and that, however, the Minister is committed to bringing forward legislative proposals in this regard. It does not have any kind of timeline. It is putting a doubt in there that a further Government decision is required. It is either accepted or it is not. I would have thought that required a degree of urgency and that it had been prompted. I was looking for it a year ago when it came in. Others were seeking the same thing. I would have thought that there would have been a little bit of advance work given how obvious this recommendation was going to be. This will be for the next Government.