Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for their questions. As Deputies will be aware, we have a set of minimum terms and conditions that apply to all employees. They have been improved in recent years, with, for example, the move to the living wage, more employment regulation orders, particularly in the private sector, the introduction of sick pay, which I was please to be involved in as Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, and the expansion of such things as parental leave. There is an issue around bogus self-employment. It is difficult to know how common it is. It certainly exists. The scope section in the Department of Social Protection has a role to play in that, as do the Revenue Commissioners.

I do not know enough about fixed term contracts in the audio-visual sector to give the Deputy a proper response, but I will ask my officials to prepare a detailed response for the Deputy.

One matter on which I agree with the Deputy is that the film and video sectors get a lot of support, sometimes through direct grants from the Government, from Screen Ireland, from the Arts Council and a lot through various tax incentives. It is important that they treat their staff and contractors decently. There are allegations of blackballing. I am sure it happens. I imagine it is hard to prove and I am not sure what suggestions come from the report. I have not had a chance to read it on that subject, but I know the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, will take an interest in it. I will certainly let her know it was raised here.

On the reform of the TV licence, while everyone is entitled to have an opinion on this, including Government Ministers, no decision has been made about it by the Government. We need to grasp the issue of funding RTÉ and public service broadcasting and media more generally. Decisions on that have been deferred down the years for many different reasons, good and bad. I want us to agree on a new system in the next few months, legislate for it in 2024 and ideally have it up and running in 2025. I have said that before.

There are different options, including Exchequer funding from central taxation which has its advantages. Many people would welcome not having to pay the TV licence fee every year, but ultimately someone has to pay. If it comes out of Exchequer funds, the taxpayer is still paying. There are also concerns about the power the Executive would then have to cut funding and so on. Some people have suggested that an independent commission could decide how much would be provided every year. That would not work. Inevitably independent commissions or bodies that recommend a certain amount of Government funding do so in isolation and do not have to make the trade-offs and kinds of decisions politicians have to make when the amount recommended by all the groups and experts simply does not add up to the amount available. The other option that has been discussed is a household charge that would be device independent. That would be fraught with difficulty. As someone who has been involved in introducing new taxes, I know it is never easy to do. Sometimes it is successful, sometimes it is not. I am not a fan of taxes or new taxes for that matter. That would be a difficult option to go for. If that option were chosen, we would have to continue to exempt a large number of households, as is the case now, such as pensioners and people on social welfare.

Deputy Paul Murphy asked about the budget. I appreciate the right of Deputies to ask what will be in the budget but I cannot answer because I do not know yet. It has not been agreed. It is still under negotiation between Ministers and has not yet been presented to the Government. Whether it be about child benefit or childcare fees, any announcement will be made on budget day by the Ministers, Deputies Michael McGrath and Donohoe. Child poverty and well-being will be a theme in the budget. I have made that commitment as Taoiseach and will be looking at a number of different measures we can introduce to reduce child poverty and improve child well-being. They will be across different areas including education, social protection and so on. We are working on that package at the moment.

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