Rónán Mullen (Independent)

Senator Michael D'Arcy's reference to grandstanding is nicely in line with the issue I wish to raise, namely, my concern that some of my colleagues have been losing the run of themselves at recent meetings of the Joint Committee on Communications, Natural Resources and Agriculture. I feel as passionately as anybody about the wrong done to the individuals concerned by RTE's "Prime Time Investigates" programme, but I am very concerned that certain people are missing the point about that documentary and its consequences for RTE. It is typical of what happens when controversy erupts around institutions in our society that politicians, in particular, are tempted to call for heads and seek headlines. That is the wrong approach to take because it misses the point about the lessons that must be learned. It is emphatically the case that the chairman and director general of RTE should not consider resigning. The issue is what they intend to do to assure public representatives and the wider public, first, that they fully understand and have thoroughly investigated what happened and, second, that they will put things right for the future in a way that will protect investigative journalism but also examine the bias and unprofessionalism within journalism. The test of the director general and the chairman in the coming months will be the extent to which they continue to maintain the spotlight on RTE's internal operations and learn the full range of lessons arising from this affair, including those relating to the culture may have underlain the broadcast and how matters relating to it were handled. I reiterate my concern that some of the people involved have not, to my knowledge, apologised to Fr. Kevin Reynolds for their role in the affair, while others seem to have been moved aside within the organisation. This is not about resignations but about the taking of responsibility. As politicians, we must cool it, avoid grandstanding and focus on the issues rather than missing the point. If we are only going to hyperventilate, shout and scream and demand that heads roll, the public will not take us seriously as people with a genuine and important role to play in establishing the truth about matters of public controversy.