The hullabaloo about the gender pay gap in RTÉ follows the publication of comparable data by BBC. The 56th annual report discloses cash-strapped RTÉ reported a deficit in 2016 of €19.7m from total revenue of €337.3m on top of a pre-existing cumulative deficit of €15.1m.

There is no evidence of an independent review and approval process at the Central Remedial Clinic in the determination of the outrageous scale of remuneration, termination and pension arrangements with its former chief executive, or the source of cash to pay these, contrary to basic standards of acceptable institutional governance.

THE admission by Alan Dukes that Anglo Irish Bank will need €50 billion in State support is cataclysmic in consequence.

THE comment by minister of state Peter Power to the effect that the amount spent on the Irish aid programme is equivalent to what the Government will borrow over 10 days is the weakest possible argument for this programme in present circumstances.