David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We had a lengthy debate on public broadcasting in the House recently. This is an issue we need to take very seriously. It was discussed yesterday in private session at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Communications, Climate Change and Environment and an the invitation will be sent to the Minister, the Department and RTÉ to come back to the committee to discuss some of the issues involved. There is no doubt that there are cultural, organisational, financial and structural changes that RTÉ has to make. The station must take the lead in that regard. It has stated that there is a funding crisis but there is a broader issue relating to public broadcasting which needs to be examined. There are casualties that arise as a result of a public broadcaster not having the resources to spend on, for example, independent productions. As the Minister is aware, the funding that was spent by RTÉ on independent production in recent years has decreased from €80 million to €40 million. That has not been without consequences. These are companies that produce good quality content domestically. Their work saves RTÉ from having to purchase syndicated programmes from America and Britain and creates jobs in communities. Is the Minister conscious of that and would he support putting in place not just targets but ring-fencing money for RTÉ in order to ensure that there is more funding for independent production?

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