Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If the Minister believes in the principle of public service broadcasting, if he believes in public service journalism and if he accepts that our national broadcaster is in a perilous position, then is it not appropriate that he would try to put in place a line item in the budget in a transparent way? Would it not be better to this rather than giving the impression that the station would somehow be beholden to the Minister at a later stage or suggesting that a particular approach could be taken in the context of providing funding in the Revised Estimates. The Minister stated that the context of Brexit is important. That is certainly the case. In reality, however, the budget was framed on the basis of the moneys available. A hard Brexit was referred to in the context of how the budget was framed, but the truth is that any funds required in the event of a crash-out Brexit would have to be borrowed. It is not as if additional funds would be available to the Minister or to the State for other projects in the event of a soft or agreed Brexit.

See this speech in context