Results 10,921-10,940 of 28,162 for speaker:Catherine Murphy

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: Okay. I presume promotional opportunities will also be considered in that context. In terms of trade union recognition, is a self employed person treated differently from an employee?

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: I want to move on to other issues. I thank the witnesses for their detailed document, on page 5 of which there is a table which sets out total income and operating costs. The difference is very notable. Commercial revenue has dropped by 36% and licence fee revenue has dropped by 12% such that total income is reduced by 23%. The licence fee revenue was easy to determine. In terms of the...

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: People are choosing a different way to view content such as Netflix and so on.

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: Essentially, the revenue is not shrunk, it is spread.

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: On costs, Ms Forbes referred in her opening statement to high risk. High risk would be in the current affairs area. Is RTÉ's legal team employed in-house or are they contracted in?

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: Has the cost in that regard been quantified?

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: When it comes to the creative side of almost anything, what strikes me is that there is almost always the presumption that if people eat less it costs them less to live. The creative sector is a very exposed and precarious area. Is Ms Forbes conscious of this when contracting in staff or is there a public service obligation from the point of view of protecting the indigenous resource that...

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: I have two other questions. Obviously we have got a list of RTÉ's top ten earners. If RTÉ did not publish that, we would all be complaining that it did not publish it. Let me acknowledge that first. However, it does give the impression that RTÉ has shed-loads of money. Whether the witnesses like that or not, that is the impression that it gives. It is then very difficult...

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: Is there really the competition that Ms Forbes talks about? Are there really so many options?

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: I will come back in if the Chair could put my name down.

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: I will try to be brief. I wish to return to some of the employment-related points. Very often people who are working want to pay PRSI because there is social protection associated with pension rights and such matters. Indeed, there is a very big difference even if somebody is earning as much. That status can determine, for example, the ability to get a mortgage and so on. People's life...

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: Yes.

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: Take for example a person who was working 20 hours a week for the last five years in RTÉ as a self-employed person but who would prefer to be an employee as opposed to a self-employed contractor who has to get an accountant and do all the kinds of things that would be ancillary to an employee. Would that be available to that person?

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: Was that a small number?

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: It is open to staff-----

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: I was conscious of the clips that were played. There was one employee of RTÉ and Mr. Seamus Dooley from the NUJ. They are probably in more secure positions. Would the security of a position make a difference, for example, to a contractor presenting that kind of a story as opposed to someone who is a direct employee and who would be more secure in his or her employment? Would that...

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: Would there be a consequence for them in doing that?

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: Okay, I am happy that the witness has answered that. The witness was asked about in-house legals. In terms of the influence of the legals in regard to programmes broadcast, obviously legal people are very cautious. Judgment calls have to be made all the time. How are the conflicts resolved when they come up because it may well be that RTÉ may be broadcasting something more...

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: There was a high-profile case a few years ago and I am sure brought an extra degree of nervousness. People are entitled to their good names and so on. That is what I was thinking of in terms of how that might permeate through the organisation and it becoming possibly risk-averse.

Public Accounts Committee: Vote 29 - Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment (3 May 2018)

Catherine Murphy: I echo the point the witness made in regard to some of the very good broadcasting. In fact, there was an excellent programme broadcast last Thursday night on child and youth mental health. I would hope that this programme might be repeated because it has been trapped in yet another crisis, and it did not get the kind of attention that it certainly deserved afterwards. I want to finish by...