Gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus guím beannachtaí na Féile Bríde uirthi agus ar phobal mór na hÉireann.

Inniu arís, chonaiceamar an cultúr a bhí ann in RTÉ faoin iar-ard-stiúrthóir RTÉ agus faoi na rialtais i ndiaidh a cheile. Tá muinín caillte ag an bpobal in RTÉ. Tá sé soiléir gurb é an t-am anois deireadh a chur leis an gceadúnas teilifíse, athchóiriu a dhéanamh ar RTÉ agus é a chur ar bhonn maoiniú inbhuanaithe.

Yesterday, we were all given another glimpse, if we needed another one, of the culture that prevailed at RTÉ under the former director general and successive Governments. The report by McCann Fitzgerald found ten redundancies under the 2017 voluntary exit programme did not satisfy the requirements of a redundancy within the meaning of the Redundancy Payment Acts and that, as a result, it may be the case RTÉ should not have applied a tax exemption on the €223,000 it made in exit payments to ten individuals. We also learned the exit package of RTÉ's former chief financial officer was not approved by its executive board. I have called on the Revenue Commissioners to investigate these revelations in full.

Only last week the latest report on the fiasco around Toy Show The Musical, which was also not approved by the executive board, was published. These are damning findings and the public is sick to the teeth of all of this. It is little wonder payments of the TV licence have fallen off a cliff. It is vital the public trusts RTÉ but trust takes time to build and needs to be earned. People are sick of the squandering of public money and lack of accountability with no one held to account. It seems the only people being held to account are the 60 people being brought before the courts every day for non-payment of the TV licence. What a contrast: one rule for RTÉ executives and another for taxpayers.

Public sector broadcasting is essential and needs to be funded properly. It needs to be independent, rigorous and trusted. That is why the current situation is untenable. A bad situation is being allowed to deteriorate. The Government needs to stop dithering and needs to act. It has had a report on its desk since 2021 - three years now - with recommendations to abolish the licence fee and to replace that revenue with Exchequer finance. I want the Government to act on that recommendation. Government bickering and indecision are making a bad decision worse. The public wants decisive action on this and wants it now.

Sinn Féin would abolish the TV licence and fund RTÉ and other public service media through Exchequer funding. This is what was recommended by the report of the expert group on the Future of Media Commission, sent to the Government in July 2021. Such an approach would end the farcical and often cruel pursuit of hard-pressed individuals through the courts for non-payment, sometimes resulting in their imprisonment for a couple of hours. Removal of the licence fee and its replacement with direct Exchequer funding would put RTÉ on a sustainable financial footing. It would allow for rigorous financial oversight by the Comptroller and Auditor General and would ensure financial scandals like those we have seen in RTÉ would be a thing of the past, never to be tolerated or to happen again.

The Government has suggested this would impact RTÉ's editorial independence but none of this will. The commission's report is clear and makes recommendations on that and on how multi-annual funding would be provided. Nobody suggests TG4 is being interfered with. It is Exchequer funded. It is not funded by the licence fee and there is no suggestion its editorial independence is in any way jeopardised by that. I ask the Tánaiste to stop dithering and delaying, to make a decision to scrap the licence fee, to replace that financing with Exchequer funding and to fulfil the recommendations of the commission's report.

Ar dtús báire, guím Lá Fhéile Bríde shona do gach éinne agus gabhaim buíochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle as an óráid a thug sí dúinn roimh thosach Cheisteanna ó Cheannairí.

I take this opportunity to wish Charlie O'Leary, who is celebrating his 100th birthday, the very best.

Hear, hear.

He was an iconic figure in the Jack Charlton Irish football team set-up back in the heyday. His contribution to Irish soccer has been immense and I think we all thank him for that.

Hear, hear.

I share the Deputy's dismay at the unfolding events in RTÉ and the clear absence of proper governance in respect of a range of issues that have been well articulated in various reports, in this House and before many Oireachtas committees.

The report is unacceptable in terms of what it reveals, not the report itself, but what it reveals is unacceptable in terms of the absence of the RTÉ executive, for example, sanctioning redundancies and redundancies happening where in fact there was no suppression of jobs. The situation with the toy show was equally shocking. The €2 million loss was equivalent to the deficit at the time. The Government shares that annoyance and anger and there are further reports coming. Those should be subject to further examination by the relevant Oireachtas committees, especially the media committee, and the Committee of Public Accounts will no doubt seek to have further sessions in respect of the reports that are to come, such as the one on governance. The situation is concerning.

That said, the RTÉ licence fee should be paid. I do not accept the protestations that it should not be paid. Public service broadcasting is extremely important, particularly in the world of social media. I have articulated very genuine concerns about full Exchequer funding to media generally because any new system of funding would not be just for RTÉ, but for all public service content in all media, including local radio and national television. I identify two issues with it that have not been addressed by the commission and I spoke to the commission afterwards when the report was published. One issue is the question of independence, which is a very legitimate one.

Sinn Féin's instincts in terms of media have been fairly well demonstrated by its very serial suing of media: "[T]he number of legal actions that have been filed by Sinn Féin members points to a coordinated campaign against the media in Ireland". Those are not my words, but are from a joint letter signed by 15 individuals and international press freedom organisations. In November 2023 these freedom of expression advocates warned Deputy McDonald that the spate of defamation cases being taken by Sinn Féin TDs is having a chilling effect on democracy.

What about section 31?

Signatories to the letter included the Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation. Many people feel the party's behaviour in that respect, and that co-ordinated behaviour, is one that is suppressing the media.

Irrespective of who is in government in the future, it is a legitimate question. It sounds great that we will pay all the bills and have full Exchequer funding, but it means any government in the future has a control over Irish media I am clear would not be a healthy one. Even if it was just about the allocation of resources with health, social protection, housing or whatever coming first, in the normal Estimates cycle where pressures come on for various expenditures - and there are finite resources no matter how well the economy is doing - there is always the potential for any government to put the pressure on, squeeze, reduce the funding or use the leverage with a view to controlling the message.

Is the Tánaiste talking about section 31?

That is a view people think Sinn Féin is at in terms of things.

It is interesting, because I never heard the Tánaiste mutter a word when former colleagues in his parliamentary party – for example, Colm Keaveney, who served with the Tánaiste and sued the media and sued a journalist in the Irish Independent when he was in the parliamentary party. What about Frank O'Rourke, who is suing the media? John O'Donoghue, the former Ceann Comhairle, is suing the media in Kerry. What about former Senator Larry Butler? That is just me Googling in the last five minutes, so do not start this nonsense.

Before there was even a scandal in RTÉ the commission recommended getting rid of the TV licence and replacing it with Exchequer funding. The commission looked at all this. It looked at how to ensure independence. It talked about multi-annual funding that is voted on in the Dáil. The Government has decided to dismiss that. It says it wants a universal fee applied to every single household, another household charge. The commission is very clear that is not the approach we should be taking. TG4 is not licence fee-funded; it is Exchequer-funded. Is the Tánaiste suggesting there is interference with the editorial control of TG4? The reality is people have lost faith in RTÉ. People are being summonsed before the courts at a rate of 60 per day for non-payment of the TV licence. It is time to implement the commission's recommendations of three years ago to scrap the TV licence, replace it with Exchequer funding and put in place the multi-annual funding we need so RTÉ and other public service content media can thrive in future.

Again, I quoted reputable, independent people who monitor freedom of the press and of the media. Ireland enjoys one of the highest places in the world index on freedom of the media because of government behaviours. The bottom line is that, from its party leader down, Sinn Féin has been systemic in its legal actions-----

People in glasshouses.

-----against the media, which is having a chilling effect. That needs to be put on record when the party is advocating a system that in my view would potentially have a negative impact on media in Ireland into the future, on its independence and indeed on its freedom.

That is nonsense. It is the commission that is advocating this.

It is a fair point I am making. The kind of populist response the party has articulated-----

It is the commission's response.

-----is pure populism. When I mention replacing the licence fee with a reduced universal fee - up to 70% were paying the RTÉ fee - that was advocated by the Oireachtas committees. Successive Oireachtas committees on media advocated that. It is not just my idea. The Oireachtas committee did it. We supported it in opposition. We did not play the populist card that everything can be paid at the end of the day.

The commission has recommended it. It is very disingenuous to describe the commission as populist. With respect, stop dithering on it.

He described you as populist.

They know the politics.

You describe yourselves as populist.

They are resigned to the politics as usual.

The Government is dithering on it. Its members need to talk to each other and come to a decision.

Out of respect for the next speaker, can we please conclude? We move to the Social Democrats and Deputy Cairns.