Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I commend Senator Mullen and his colleague on bringing this Bill before the House to enable us to have a real conversation among ourselves, not merely about the issues that have been grabbing the headlines, but the longer term issues. We need to consider carefully what public service broadcasting is about. Is it wall-to-wall politics and chat from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.? Is that public service broadcasting? After that it seems to lapse - I am an old fogey - into blues and jazz for the rest of the evening with one final whimper around 10 o'clock with more current affairs. Is that the sum total of public service radio?

There are exceptions and I will not tar the whole thing with that fairly facile description. I find the documentaries that RTÉ puts together are of real value. I find that I do not want my car journey to end and want to sit in the car and listen to the very end of it. Much more of that kind of stuff could be done. I listen a lot too BBC Radio 4, the BBC public service broadcasting channel. It has fascinating programmes on a wide range of subjects which are not just arguments between Tories and Labour for five hours a day. We should have a serious conversation about what public service broadcasting actually means.Is 2FM, for instance, public service broadcasting? Is it different, qualitatively, from 98FM or Q102? Does it require a subsidy, and does it have to be part of the State apparatus? I love Lyric FM in the car, because it enables me to escape from some of the constant blather on the radio-----