Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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I am sorry I was so quick the last time. I was just trying to get into the ten minutes and run. I have a huge difficulty with the outsourcing of the broadcasters. The justification for that is it would cost too much to employ them directly. That cost is taken into the other important criterion that should be taken on board, which is the direct employment of people who are giving an essential service. It has been pointed out that it is an entity out there and they can go through the Workplace Relations Commission and the court. That is not accurate. Theoretically it is accurate but if the employer refuses, that is the end. I understand in this situation that the company has refused. I would like Mr. Finnegan to comment on that and say where he is getting his information that it has engaged. I understand there has been no engagement. Maybe I am wrong and I will be the first to say sorry. Distancing yourself from something like that is not acceptable. It is something that really needs to go back to the Houses of the Oireachtas commission to look at. What is the essential value of this service? How do we do it properly and how do we learn? That is one question.

The next question is on the Irish language. I stopped the witnesses in their tracks earlier. Could Mr. Finnegan clarify that in a few sentences and where we are at with the translation service? Is there still a backlog? Finally, there is the issue of the legal costs again of the second part, in relation to the 13 legal claims in 2024. We have legal costs of €228,000. Compensation seems very little in comparison to the legal costs of €100,000, and so on. What were the legal costs relating to the members of the public for? Could Mr. Finnegan clarify all of that for me?