Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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I have a few comments. I thank the Chair for her kind comments at what is my first meeting. I am not as well equipped as the other members because I am on three other committees and the commission, so it is hard to keep everything going. However, I am glad to get the opportunity to say a few words.

I welcome the new chairperson and the board members. They have a difficult job. It is a job that I hope they do well because what went on for the last 12 months was a national disgrace. As somebody who has been 30 years in the Dáil, I have listened to political commentators from RTÉ for 30 years. By God, they kept politicians to a very high standard and were the cause of many senior Ministers having to resign over minor and trivial things that were proven to be wrong afterwards, but they forced them out of government. It is a shame they did not use the same standards themselves. When we found out what actually happened, we had to force some people to resign and some people got big packages. What went on with the financial stuff with Ryan Tubridy and everything else was a total disgrace and the people of Ireland were disgusted. I want to say that at the beginning.

To be fair to RTÉ, I have always supported it. In the 30 years that I have been in the Dáil, it has always done very well on politics, sport and current affairs and its programming has been very good. With regard to the licence fee that is being paid, people do not have any problem paying for Sky but they have a big problem paying for RTÉ. I have always been a supporter of RTÉ and believe we need a strong RTÉ. However, what went on was a disgrace.

I have said for a long time that we have too many full-time chairpersons who are on six or seven boards. The public service appoints them and if it is not a county manager, it is an assistant secretary or somebody from the public service. We did not have enough people with business experience like Mr. O’Rourke.

I am looking at his CV. He certainly knows how the world of business works. RTÉ has to be run as a business, not like a charity as it was for the past number of years. That is what it was like. People put their hand into the bowl and took whatever they wanted to take or whatever they could get. What was going on was terrible. The general public are disgusted. At the same time, RTÉ needs to build up confidence again.

We need RTÉ for coverage of sport, politics and current affairs. We need a fair and balanced RTÉ and it is important that it rebuilds its relationship with the public. I am not someone who tells people not to pay the TV licence. It is great value for what we get and people should pay it, but RTÉ now needs to show the general public that what was going on there is over. We do not want a further drip-feed of information.

As I said, I was not a member of the committee and had not followed matters as closely as other Deputies. They did a tremendous job and worked very hard to bring out the evidence that needed to be brought out. I wish Mr. O'Rourke well in his appointment and I hope he will do what has to be done.

Some of the general workers in RTÉ are disgusted and disappointed by what was going on. They are honourable and decent people who gave their lives to and loved RTÉ. They gave their full career to it. I am glad Mr. O'Rourke is now dealing with some of the workers who were not contracted on a full-time pensionable basis. That should be dealt with quickly.

I will not say much more today. I will read into what is happening; this is my first meeting. I wish Mr. O'Rourke well. He has a difficult job and I hope he does it right. I want RTÉ to rebuild the confidence of the general public because that is vital. We need a strong RTÉ. I have great respect for some of the people in RTÉ, but there are others who I would not employ. Some are very good and have done a fantastic job, and they need to be supported. The general staff need to be supported, to know what is happening for the future and that their jobs are secure and what is going on in RTÉ. Everybody needs to know what is going on and that everything is above board.