Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
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I have some sympathy with RTÉ on this, in that if we have censorship and do not allow political figures to express their views, that is not good either. We have to have engagement with vested interests, as RTÉ says in its document. We cannot be so purest to imagine that all scientists are icons of objectivity and all politicians are climate deniers. There is a need for RTÉ to create a ring within which the objective truth is out there, but there is still a feeling that different points of view are being heard. I am slightly nervous about the direction the committee is leaning towards because some scientists - we have had them before the committee - can be dogmatic and present, not solutions but, rather, impossible options to politicians who are trying to get a majority of people to support a programme of change. We need to strike a balance. RTÉ is reflecting our community, and it is not all at one. I am not for a moment saying that the science is not categoric on climate, but RTÉ has a difficult line to walk. I appreciate what it is trying to do. At times it could be done better but I see the dilemma it is in.