Minister White must explore new avenues for financing RTÉ

Communications Minister Alex White is to ask the Cabinet to consider a proposal to fund RTÉ by television license fee revenue, or commercial income, but not both.

The minister seems to have lost sight of the benefits of public service broadcasting for Irish society and, with a 17% delinquency rate, the failure of the government to collect television licence revenue from all who are liable to pay.

Public service broadcasting is defined by UNESCO as being created, financed andcontrolled by the public, for the public, neither commercial nor state-owned, free from political interference and pressure from commercial forces.