Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I do not have a problem with the Government spending money on genuine public service information with the national broadcaster. As an aside, there is a need, however, to address as a matter of urgency the more general issue of the impact of commercial and advertising on the controversies that have unfolded in RTÉ. It was notable, although not entirely credible, that Noel Kelly was, in essence, trying to excuse a lot of the goings-on over the pay stuff relating to the commercial relationship with RTÉ. That is a matter that has to be investigated and it links to the wider issue of the funding of RTÉ not being dependent on commercial and advertising, which can impact on its public service remit.

This is the question I really want to ask, however. The State rightly spent money on Covid information during that period. I put it to the Taoiseach that, as I have stated at several forums, the biggest issue facing the country is the housing and homelessness crisis and the options and so on, or the lack of options in many cases, that are available to people for the different manifestations of that crisis. There should be a dedicated one-stop-shop portal to make clear to people who are facing homelessness, for example, what is available in terms of affordable, cost rental and other supports for when people are in a difficult situation. That would be a useful form of public or Government information statements to highlight what assistance, schemes and supports are available to people who find themselves in emergency or difficult situations as a result of the housing crisis. Very often, such people are desperate and do not have a clue where to go to look for assistance when they are in a dire situation.

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