We do not adequately acknowledge the role which RTE, formerly Radio Éireann, had in the development of broadcasting in this country. For all its faults, most of which only seem to be apparent with the benefit of a further 50 years of development, it laid down exacting standards for the medium in this country and set a headline which the stations of today, including itself, might do well to study again. We have come a long way since the mid-1970s when there was talk of providing a second television channel in Ireland. There were those in the Labour-Fine Gael coalition at the time who favoured the handing over of this resource to re-broadcast BBC 1, on the basis, no doubt, that whatever was produced in Britain had to be better than anything which could be produced at home. Whatever its faults, and faults there are, RTE has done a remarkable job over the last 40 years of television, and three quarters of a century of radio. Its productions have been identifiably Irish and we can be justifiably proud of it.