Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I think the Deputy is misleading the House. The reality is that the Government has been restoring funding to RTÉ. Last year it provided, I think, €10 million of additional funding to RTÉ as well as additional money to TG4. We believe strongly in the need for public service broadcasting and the importance of broadcasting, be it provided by public bodies or the private sector, and there are many excellent examples of public service delivery in the private sector. The Government established a working group following the report of the Oireachtas committee and I have acted on all the recommendations of that working group. We will put collection of the licence fee out to tender to reduce the rate of evasion and will move in due course to a model that is independent of the particular device a person has. The current model is linked exclusively to ownership of a television. We are acting on the recommendations. RTÉ is looking at the more structural changes that are happening and the Deputy cannot be blind to the fact that there are huge structural changes. If we want to see public service broadcasting delivered to a younger audience, we have to change the structures through which it is delivered. That is the work RTÉ is examining: how it can meet the needs of a changing environment for broadcasters.

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