Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Bacik for raising this matter. I was very pleased that the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, yesterday brought to Government the three reviews into RTÉ that the Deputy referenced.

These are the reviews prepared by the independent expert advisory committees, the review of governance and culture, and the review of contractor fees, HR and other matters in RTÉ. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, also brought the Mazars final report on the RTÉ barter account.

I do genuinely believe these reports path a way forward. They show us a way forward and show an opportunity to get to where Deputy Bacik aspires to be, and to where all parties and the people of the country aspire, with a better supported, better resourced, better run and better functioning RTÉ and a real value on public service broadcasting. I hope yesterday marked an opportunity to begin to turn the page in terms of not just looking back on what was a very dire situation around governance and other matters but beginning to look forward in terms of implementing the recommendations. We have been saying for a while that these two independent reports were the first reports that produced recommendations. Every other report, while valuable or useful, told us what went wrong. We now have 116 recommendations in the reports, 101 of which are for RTÉ and 15 of which are for the Government. At its meeting yesterday the Government accepted the 15 that are for us. As does Deputy Bacik, I welcome that RTÉ has accepted the recommendations. It now needs to come back to the Government within six weeks with a very robust response and implementation plan. The Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, appraised the Government yesterday of how she and her Department intend to oversee and monitor the implementation of the plan.

In relation to the issue around bogus self-employment, there were two important recommendations in the scope. One was to intensify the engagement between the Department of Social Protection and RTÉ and the other was for the Department and RTÉ to positively consider a mediation process to try to help fast-track the process. This is for the very reason Deputy Bacik has highlighted, in terms of the real impact this has had on workers, often lower-paid workers in RTÉ, at a time of largesse for some. There is a sense of lower-paid workers or, quite frankly, normal workers going about their business missing out and being mistreated.

With regard to the issue of funding, this is the Government that will settle the question in terms of how to sustainability fund RTÉ and public service broadcasting. We reaffirmed this at Cabinet yesterday. The leaders of the three coalition parties, of which I am one, are committed to it. It is our intention to make a decision on funding by the summer break. It is important we do this. There are probably two options on the table. Different parties in the House have their views and I welcome this. It is good to have these debates. Ultimately there is a rubber-hits-the-road moment in terms of RTÉ responding with the full implementation plan and this being an enabler for the Government being able to make a decision once and for all on sustainable funding. I acknowledge the Trojan work done by the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, in very difficult circumstances over a sustained period of time that has helped bring us to this point today. She will be the Minister and this will be the Government who will resolve the funding issue.

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