Mr. Larry Bass:

We are talking about the funding of public service broadcasting, which is not just news and current affairs. If we want to recognise that we have a culture and a nation, we need to fund our language and culture, which is represented in all types of programming like entertainment and arts programming, documentaries, drama and film. All of it combines to give us a nation. We were exporting literature before we ever had a nation. If we are not going to invest in our future cultural exploits, we will not have a national culture to talk about. There is a crisis of funding but it stretches right across radio, television and film. Ireland has been well served by our cultural heritage but it will disappear if we cannot compete with the Googles, Facebooks and everything else that is encroaching and taking up space. The debate is about funding and somebody needs to take it seriously. It has not been taken seriously in these Houses for the best part of 20 or 30 years and we would like it to be taken seriously in the future.