I asked this question in the context of the significant licence fee increase announced before Christmas, a decision that had the agreement of the majority in this House. Clearly, a main component of the reasoning behind the increase was that we should have a new content regulator for both public and private broadcasters, with an independent regulator for RTE. Why are we now looking at a possible minimum of 18 months, according to my information, before we see the new authority up and running?
A figure of €7 out of every €150 paid in licence fees was mentioned. How will this be administered? How does the Minister propose that RTE will be monitored and regulated independently on behalf of the public to ensure that we get value for money, now that we are paying €150 per year? Nothing has changed in relation to the independent monitoring of RTE. Until the new authority is up and running RTE will continue to monitor itself. Is the Minister satisfied with this? How can he justify a licence fee increase of this magnitude without following through quickly on the promises he made?