Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)

I am here to answer questions regarding communications, so I will answer the question on communications. There was not really a question in the Deputy's second contribution. My position remains the same. The television licence is not a tax, by the way. I do not see that reference anywhere in the legislation, so I do not know what hat he drew that rabbit out of. It is an important funding mechanism for RTÉ. The Deputy would be the very first person out in RTÉ protesting if the Government were to in any way reduce funding to it. He wants to have his cake and eat it. On this, I am not going to go down the cul-de-sac where he just wants to erode the tax base of every element of public expenditure and revenue generation. He seems to think there is a phantom entity out there that can pay for everything bar yourself. That is the way he operates. In the real world of a constitutional democracy, that is not the way things work. If he ever gets the opportunity to spend a day in government, maybe he will realise that.

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