Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)
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I welcome our guests. I strongly believe we should adequately and comprehensively fund RTÉ within the normal budgetary parameters as we need an independent and successful national broadcaster. There is great sentiment for RTÉ which I share. We are very proud of it and want to keep it. I do not think there is an issue in that regard.

Through my work as a public representative, an approach was made to me by representatives from the independent production sector.

Naturally, it is constrained in terms of finance and potential. Arising from my conversations with the sector, how would Ms Forbes see RTÉ using some of the extra €8.5 million it received in the budget? While we want to see more and a better long-term arrangement, it would not do to allow this meeting to pass without recognising that in the new budgetary environment there has been an increase of €8.5 million, which is both significant and welcome. We were in constricted circumstances up until now, but there is now an acceptance that funding RTÉ is necessary. In the next three years what does Ms Forbes propose to give to the independent productions sector? Does she see RTÉ increasing its payment or grant aid to the sector? She mentioned sourcing material for children's programmes from the sector, but can she do more for it? Does she accept that it has a problem?

Having said that, I favour State investment, but in the light of my last question, there is an elephant in the room. It is populist, but let us address the issue as people throughout the country are talking about it. I would like to hear Ms Forbes address it again. If she addressed it in the early part of her presentation, I hope she will forgive me as I missed the first few minutes of it. If I were to go back to my local community tonight and tell it what I was doing this evening, I would be asked why I did not ask about the salaries of the top broadcasters. I personally recognise that one cannot have high quality broadcasters and pay them peanuts, but the question still arises. Does Ms Forbes think the salaries paid are proportionate? Are they necessary to attract the best people? Does she see a drain if the best people were on lower salaries? How would she inform us in that respect? There is an audience, perhaps a misinformed audience, who would like to hear the answer to that question and believe the amounts paid are too great. It is a constant theme. I do not want to cite individual broadcasters, but people will cite broadcaster X or broadcaster Y and ask me what we are doing about his or her salary. They will ask me why the salary is two or three times that of a Minister or double that of the Taoiseach.

My third point concerns evasion. I am very impressed by RTÉ's recent advertising campaign on licence fee collection. It is very good and effective to bring in extra licence fee income. I hear the advertisements in the car and think they are good. I take the point that 14% is probably a relatively acceptable level of evasion. It is not acceptable, but it is normal enough. Does Ms Forbes see methodologies, whereby it could be reduced, beyond RTÉ's very effective advertising campaign which is excellent?

I see that there was a 24% drop in RTÉ's operating costs between 2008 and 2017. Will Ms Forbes elaborate a little on the factors that impinged on that reduction? What drop in operating costs would be sustainable, even in good times? In other words, has RTÉ got rid of some pulp such that the drop could be sustained? How much of it is sustainable and how much of it was down to the exigencies of the recession? How much of the reduction was made in areas in which Ms Forbes would like to funding reinstated? How much of it was a genuine cull that will prove helpful in the long term? People listening to this debate will want to know the answers to thse questions. I welcome the decline in the sense that RTÉ was in a difficult budgetary position, with which it coped well, but I would like to hear more.

The gender equality issue is one of which Ms Forbes is well aware, but will she comment on the lower salary bands, in which women are disproportionately represented? I do not need to go through them again. I do not think it is necessary to do so, as we are aware of it. There is a disproportionate number of women on basic salary levels and, as one moves towards the top salaries, it is almost the inverse or the converse. Of course, that would be a source of great concern in any civilised society. Will Ms Forbes comment on the issue? Is she confident that she can address it practically and successfully in the short term?

As a country person and somebody from a Border constituency, I am concerned about the issue of regionalisation and local news media. I would like Ms Forbes to comment in two ways. Unfortunately, because of the nature of our job, we do not get to see enough television programming because we are on the road. Perhaps I am wrong or right, but I get the sense that RTÉ is making a concerted effort to move towards regionalisation in its broadcasting, something I would welcome. Does Ms Forbes see it as intensifying or increasing? Could RTÉ do more in that regard? How can it be twinned with better financing of local and community radio services? Is there an inherent conflict in that rgard? I hope there is not.

I am very interested in TG4 because it has done a huge amount for the language, our culture and heritage. It is the jewel in the crown from many's perspective. It is amazing the number of people living in the Galltacht or the Pale who watch it. Where are we at with it? Is Ms Forbes confident that it can continue at the same level? Is it adequately funded? Where does she see it going in the future? There is a huge constituency with a passion for and interest in TG4. I am one of them. I would like to hear about this, but it is not just me who is relevant but the people we represent.

On the archives, my good friend and colleague, Deputy Eamon Ryan, was Minister when the legislation on the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland was piloted through the Oireachtas. I was spokesperson for my party in the Seanad at the time. We spent many successful days together. I have a great passion for and personal interest in the archives. I am, therefore, very impressed by what Ms Forbes had to say about them. The extra use being made of them is wonderful. I hope I will not be involuntarily retired at the next general election - I do not intend to retire voluntarily - but whenever I get to retire, one way or the other, I would love to spend a lot of time looking at the archives which are fascinating. My area of interest is history. The archives are a huge national resource for the people, emigrants and future generations. It was a wonderful development. If one were to check the Official Report - I do not propose that anyone should do so - I constantly went on in the Seanad about the archives and their importance.

They are some of the points-----