Cathy Bennett (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

I acknowledge the work of Deputy Ó Snodaigh in preparing this Bill and Deputy Byrne for proposing it today. Those in RTÉ have wantonly squandered the public moneys with which they have been entrusted. They have spent money lavishly entertaining themselves. They have spent the money of ordinary people on flip-flops for themselves. RTÉ has paid so-called stars obscene salaries based on the tall tale that broadcasters abroad were knocking the door down to secure the talent in RTÉ. When rocked by scandal, which seems to be a quarterly occurrence these days, RTÉ pays lip service to accountability. Lessons need to be learned as soon as possible. It is the same sorry mantra all the time, the one near certainty being that the organisation will be knocked by scandal anew in the period ahead.

What I find particularly galling about the station's practices is that while spending recklessly on itself, it was operating as a rogue employer and taking money out of the pockets of its workers through the practice of bogus self-employment. This is something we want to investigate at the Committee of Public Accounts. As a new member of that committee, I want to ensure this happens. Bogus self-employment should not happen anywhere in our country. RTÉ misspent taxpayers' money, on the one hand, and denied payments due under the Social Insurance Fund, on the other. It also denied staff their holiday pay and pensions and then had the gall to drag out the fight against those who were simply seeking what it had immorally denied them.

It is right that this Bill should proceed as soon as possible. It is wrong that the Government will oppose it, particularly as RTÉ receives significant public money and has displayed woeful stewardship of that money. I again ask that RTÉ should be accountable to the Comptroller and Auditor General. It should be brought before the Committee of Public Accounts. The Oireachtas has mandated this responsibility to ensure that we have efficiency as regards our public expenditure. I ask the Minister of State to do this as soon as possible to ensure we have no more scandals.

See this speech in context