Ms Dee Forbes:

That leads me to the Senator's second point about children's programming and where it is going. That is the big question. We have also seen, through our children or nieces or nephews, that the way in which children are consuming media is completely different from when we were growing up. That is the reason we are taking a very long and hard look at how we move forward in this space. The Senator is correct that our main offering is linear. It is either broadcast on RTÉ in the afternoon or RTÉ Junior. The Senator is correct that RTÉ Player is not the place for children. As we move forward with the new player, the area we are creating will be more attractive. The Senator is correct that, as a national broadcaster, we must do an awful lot more to endear ourselves to children. One thing that is working very well for us is that every day during the school day we have "News Today", a news programme for children. A lot of schools record it and play it in classrooms the next day and talk about it. There was much talk online about a particular piece we did to explain Brexit to children. It went down really well. When I talk to children, "News Today" comes up time and again because it is being opened up in the classroom. What we want to do is have more such experiences.

We have changed the organisation and while we still have somebody responsible for children's programming output, we encourage all genre heads across entertainment, factual programming and other areas to think not just about the adult audience but also the children's audience to have more experiences for them across many sectors. That is something I hope will reap rewards, but we must also recognise that the relationship with the national broadcaster with which we grew up will not be replicated in the future. It simply cannot be because life has moved on, but we must ensure there will be moments, experiences and programmes that will result in children and families coming to us and being hugely proud that they are watching RTÉ. We need to spend more in that space to ensure we are relevant. When I see such programmes as "News Today", it gives me hope that when we do it right, we provide content for children that they want and that excites them. Partnership is also very important in that space. We made a programme recently with those involved in the junior entrepreneur programme, a fantastic programme that happens all around the country to encourage schoolchildren to become entrepreneurs. We linked in with it and this year will go further by having more content on air. We will engage in partnerships and work with educational institutions and other organisations to see how we can talk to children together in order to move forward.