RTÉ is now asking the Government for a 32% increase in its licence fee top-up this year, which is worth under €55 million. We must ensure that any money allocated to the broadcaster is not outbalanced by overspends by RTÉ in other areas. RTÉ is in front of us at the public accounts committee tomorrow. It has stated that TV licence sales have declined by 19% since 2022. It claims this is caused by households not necessarily having TVs, but we all know that is only part of the story. A major possible cause of the drop in sales is the fact that there have been financial scandals and unnecessary overspends. Spending in areas such as the limousines for €35,000, the high spending on termination payments last year, as well as €56,000 in expenses being spent on 41 members of RTÉ going to Czechia for the Ireland qualifier earlier this year, are issues that are coming up. With such levels of public spending on the broadcaster, while RTÉ provides a good service for the country, we need clarity on what the future funding model is.

Sentiment score: 0.15