I share the Deputy's dismay at the unfolding events in RTÉ and the clear absence of proper governance in respect of a range of issues that have been well articulated in various reports, in this House and before many Oireachtas committees.

The report is unacceptable in terms of what it reveals, not the report itself, but what it reveals is unacceptable in terms of the absence of the RTÉ executive, for example, sanctioning redundancies and redundancies happening where in fact there was no suppression of jobs. The situation with the toy show was equally shocking. The €2 million loss was equivalent to the deficit at the time. The Government shares that annoyance and anger and there are further reports coming. Those should be subject to further examination by the relevant Oireachtas committees, especially the media committee, and the Committee of Public Accounts will no doubt seek to have further sessions in respect of the reports that are to come, such as the one on governance. The situation is concerning.

That said, the RTÉ licence fee should be paid. I do not accept the protestations that it should not be paid. Public service broadcasting is extremely important, particularly in the world of social media. I have articulated very genuine concerns about full Exchequer funding to media generally because any new system of funding would not be just for RTÉ, but for all public service content in all media, including local radio and national television. I identify two issues with it that have not been addressed by the commission and I spoke to the commission afterwards when the report was published. One issue is the question of independence, which is a very legitimate one.

Sinn Féin's instincts in terms of media have been fairly well demonstrated by its very serial suing of media. "[T]he number of legal actions that have been filed by Sinn Féin members points to a coordinated campaign against the media in Ireland". Those are not my words, but are from a joint letter signed by 15 individuals and international press freedom organisations. In November 2023 these freedom of expression advocates warned Deputy McDonald that the spate of defamation cases being taken by Sinn Féin TDs is having a chilling effect on democracy.

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