John O'Mahony (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In recent times I have seen the same comedian on programmes discussing serious political issues. I do not know whether he is a comedian, an analyst, a pundit or whatever else, but he cannot be all of them. I have seen this problem not just on RTE but also on other national stations and it is an important matter to raise.

It is welcome that the local radio broadcasting levy is being done away with, eased or whatever the case may be. It was a major issue in recent years because local radio stations were involved in public service broadcasting. The big issue is there has never been an exact definition of public service broadcasting. As other Senators said, RTE did a fantastic job in covering the 1916 Rising commemorations, in particular. It commemorated the centenary in a very dignified way into which people, no matter what side of the divide they were on, could buy. That was very laudable. As has been said here, local radio stations play a huge part in public service broadcasting, for which, in fact, they had to pay a broadcasting levy. I am glad that it has been alleviated or removed altogether in certain cases.

Of course, there are challenges with the licensing model. I am glad that the Minister has stated An Post should still be central to any new model because. It is another part of his brief, of which I know he is very conscious, and it was a concern of mine. As regards not having a broadcasting charge, I wonder if there are other ways by which it could be done. Obviously, another charge might not go down well, but at the end of the day if people are buying tablets or whatever else, there should be some way of charging them. I do not think they would object if it was done in the right way. There is no reason a charge could not be implemented because life is changing so much, when one considers the introduction of digital media and so on. The charge, whatever it is, needs to this into account.