Mark Ward (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

RTÉ needs root-and-branch reform to end the insider culture. There has been a lot of talk about the culture in RTÉ and protecting "the talent". RTÉ board chair, Ms Siún Ní Raghallaigh, has suggested binning the word "talent", and not before time. The use of the word "talent" is an insult to the ordinary workers in RTÉ. It shows the disconnect between the haves and have-nots. Issues have been raised about RTÉ in respect of bogus self-employment, the two-tier system for workers, pay disparity, the gender pay gap and the misclassification of other workers. All of these issues need to be resolved. Who defines what talent is? There are many talented people working in RTÉ, be they cleaners, security staff, journalists, set designers or the many others who are not deemed by RTÉ to be "the talent".

The National Union of Journalists has echoed the same issues for years. Its members have struggled with pay, zero-hour contracts and not getting the resources they need to do their jobs. We heard that the remote controls in the RTÉ newsroom were not working so the staff there could not turn on the television. The members of the union have been told time and again that there is no money. We have all heard the justified anger in the voices of ordinary journalists and workers at protests this week. Journalists on low pay have been locked in trade union disputes, fighting hard for fair play and conditions. They and their trade union representatives were told by RTÉ's top brass time and again that the money simply was not there. Yet at last week's meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts, the existence of a slush fund of in excess of €1 million was revealed. This was just another kick in the teeth for those workers.

I lost count of how many people contacted me this week in relation to the television licence fee. I will not use the language they used because I will not use unparliamentary language-----

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