Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)

I welcome the figures released by UPC at the end of last week, showing that more than 200,000 people per week are tuning in to the new political channel, UPC 801. It shows there is a significant appetite for unfiltered, unbiased information. It shows that people are engaging with politics, at least to some degree. Now, UPC has decided to move the channel UPC 801 to a channel in the 200s. This way more people will come across the channel and start watching it because at the moment many people do not realise it exists. This is to be welcomed. The next step is for the Oireachtas to seek other ways to try to get the people to know what is going on in the Houses. I call on RTE to make political programmes more accessible to people who are not night owls or insomniacs. The figures show people are watching politics on television. The national broadcaster should take UPC's lead.