Liz McManus (Wicklow, Labour)

There is nothing in the Bill about those kinds of reforms so I do not know how the Minister can claim that it can or will happen. That is not the nature of the beast, which is instead to set up a little empire and try to draw in resources. The Minister did not answer the staffing question, which is very important. I would be grateful if he would comment on that issue.

Is the right of the regulator to hold on to levies which it has not spent anomalous? If the Minister's Department does not spend all its allocation, my understanding is that the money goes back to the Department of Finance and the Minister's Department would be judged on that in terms of future allocations. The Department must operate under certain rules. Where broadcasters are to pay a levy, often with difficulty, they cannot receive back unspent money, which is fundamentally wrong.

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