Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To give an example, if RTÉ had €10,000 of advertising space next week that was not yet sold, the barter account would buy the space at a discount for €8,000. RTÉ would be paid €4,000 in cash and €4,000 in agency credit. Instead of using the €4,000 credit to buy something the station needs - rather than flip-flops - the balance is simply converted into cash. The €4,000, at a rate of 65%, becomes €2,600. As a result what would have achieved €10,000 in advertising space now only achieves €6,600 and RTÉ forgoes the chance to use the barter account to acquire what it needs, and we know RTÉ needs lots of stuff. In the rush to react to what emerged in this committee room last year regarding the barter account, has RTÉ thrown the baby out with the bath water and is it losing more money as a result?