Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We need a national broadcaster and that is a fact but I see the excellent work that other media outlets, such as Radio Kerry do on a shoestring. They run an extremely efficient business and do great work on a shoestring. Why must the model of RTÉ be as it is? I will give an example. I will not name the person but there is a man who does all the bemoaning, shouting, grumbling and grousing every day. He has been on €1,000 a day seven days a week for as long as I can remember. He is on the radio complaining about politicians. Of course, his motto is to complain about everybody. Tell the people he is getting €1,000 a day seven days a week for the past how many years and smiling away quite happily with it. How does this make sense? He berates every politician that we could throw a stick or a stone at and says we are all disgrace and we are this and we are that. He is there creaming his €1,000 a day all the same.

No one of us is perfect. I have to be honest; I was not really impressed with what the Minister did the last night and the way she aired the business and the way she did it. I thought it was wrong. She should have handled it differently. I will not make hay out of it because I do not do that type of thing. I really do think we need a national broadcaster but, my God, the Minister needs to shake it up. We need to put it right. We need to bring back its reputation. I will say again, and I know the Ceann Comhairle would agree with it personally, back over the years RTÉ did great things. We had great presenters. They produced great programmes. Who could think of programmes such as "Glenroe" without a smile on their face? You would say "God bless Miley and God bless the rest of them". There were great people. We have RTÉ to thank for an awful lot of things over the years.

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