Michael Mullins (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I support my colleague, Senator Healy Eames, in calling for a debate on the personal insolvency guidelines. It does appear that banks are getting too much power and that they will attempt to call the shots on how people live their lives. This is particularly galling for taxpayers who have bailed out banks to such a large extent. It is a pity that the banks were not more meticulous when they were handing out large loans. They should have better checked out people's creditworthiness and the sustainability of business plans that were put forward by some developers. Had the banks done so, we would not be in the state we are in today.

I share the outrage of many people at the obscene salary figures published yesterday in respect of some employees of the national broadcaster. In some cases, those salaries are multiples of what the Taoiseach earns. Such salaries are not sustainable in this day and age. I welcome the fact that significant cuts, as high as 30%, were made to some of those salaries. However, I would like to know how RTE management could have allowed such obscene salaries that could take a 30% cut yet still be huge. How could that have been allowed to happen in this country? It is time for a debate on our television licence and whether or not the taxpayer is getting good value for money. If the people in RTE are not getting it, it is time to cut the cost of the television licence and hit them where it hurts most.

While we all want a good public broadcasting system, in many cases we must ask whether people are getting good value from some of the so-called highly paid stars. What do some of them contribute to making this country a better place and to economic recovery? Many of the programmes are phone-in programmes that are full of negativity. It is time to have an open and frank discussion on what we pay our stars in RTE and whether we are getting good value for money or if the moneys collected in the licence fee should be spread more evenly so that local radio stations and media outlets would benefit from the television licence.