Deirdre Clune (Fine Gael)

To clarify the issue referred to by Senator Walsh, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources indicated this morning that he is considering a broadcasting charge. Moreover, he made clear that this would not be an additional charge. In other words, any household already paying a television licence fee will not be required to pay any more. It makes sense to replace the licence fee with a broadcasting charge because there are now so many different media through which people can access information provided by the public service broadcaster.

Will the Deputy Leader arrange for a debate on public sector broadcasting? Such a debate should encompass such issues as the mixing of commercial revenue with licence fee income and the excessive fees paid to some broadcasters. The Taoiseach's salary should be a benchmark if not a ceiling for anybody working in the public service. Public service broadcasting has served us very well heretofore, but it is helpful to retract, review and revise every so often.