Mark Daly (Fianna Fail)

With the leave of the House, I would like to share my time with Senator Darragh O'Brien.

I welcome the Minister to the House. He has made a wide-ranging contribution and it is difficult for him to touch on every issue.

I raise a pressing issue for which the Minister's Department is, to some extent, responsible. A 65 year old lady, Ms Teresa Treacy, has been in jail since 13 September. I ask the Minister to address that issue when he replies to the debate. The case is disturbing to anyone observing it from the outside. I would like to hear the Minister's insight on the case.

Radio Telefís Éireann is facing a deficit of €30 million this year. In November 2010, Fine Gael proposed that the salaries of all managers and presenters should be capped at €200,000. Is that proposal being pursued by the Minister's Fine Gael Cabinet colleagues? RTE appears to be unsustainable. Public service broadcasting is all very well but commercial broadcasters are providing the same service without subsidy. Why should RTE get such favourable treatment at enormous cost to the taxpayer? Will Fine Gael follow through on its proposal?

One fifth of customers of the national broadband service have expressed dissatisfaction with broadband speeds. Download speed and coverage are felt to be inadequate. The Minister referred to a proposed improvement in broadband service and the auction of new licences. Will there be benchmarking - a dangerous word in this House - in achieving better services? I am always sceptical of surveys that say 99% of customers are satisfied. There are always 1% who are dissatisfied.

The Minister referred to the Fine Gael NewERA document. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, in an interview on Newstalk in February last, said she thought the NewERA document contained extraordinary figures which would also involve the creation of about ten quangos. The Minister for Finance remarked, in passing, that the document was dreamt up by some person in the Fine Gael public relations office. There was a public relations add-on. I wonder if 105,000 jobs will be created.

With regard to the creation of quangos, the Government previously stated it was going to get rid of them. I welcome the Minister's work with the energy suppliers, including the ESB, Bord Gáis and others in regard to ensuring no family or person is left without heat and light this winter or Christmas given it is predicted we will have a difficult winter.

The pay and conditions and pensions of semi-State agencies, including the ESB, are unsustainable. I heard one of the union leaders, Mr. Jack O'Connor, defending his earnings. He is no James Connolly given he is earning €100,000 per annum.