Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We can argue about its quality or lack of quality. Yes, it is popular to knock the salaries of high earners - Senator Norris did a good job defending us here today - and it is necessary to examine how and what one pays people but we must have a public broadcaster that is independent and can produce not just news, sports and current affairs programming but also drama and coverage of arts, culture and all levels of Irish life. We should congratulate RTE because it provides a good service in many areas, even if we might not agree with its editorial policy at times. Senator Humphreys is correct that collection of the licence fee could be improved. He said that 13% of it is not collected-----