Dee Forbes banging the RTE TV licence drum again 60m uncollected fee *poll not working - pl ignore*

This is a farce but not at all surprising.

It was clear from all the drama before the Committees previously that the entire setup was rotten and the way most of them have jumped ship since (with massive payouts), or how Forbes has never even appeared, just comes across as a big FU to not only the extremely weak Minister (but that's what happens when you elect one issue ideologues into Government), the Government itself, but also the taxpayer who is legally forced to pay a licence fee to pay for all this!

But there'll be no accountability, certainly no sanctions or prosecutions, and even if Martin resigns, so what? What will really change?

What's more, I would bet that RTE isn't the only semi-state or publicly funded organisation to be rife with similar issues. When there's no accountability or even competence in the oversight of such bodies, it just leaves it open for exploitation or just generally lax practices or waste - look at what we learned about the Gardai over the last decade for example, or the Irish Water mess etc, or even just what a pain it is to deal with organisations like utility companies or Welfare. Somewhat ironically, about the only one that does seem to be run properly and even helpfully (to the public) is Revenue!

I've said it before on this site over the years... We're a nation that admires the "cute hoor", that rails against any accountability and constantly looks for an "out" when it catches up with us, and when we're not enviously/resentfully watching what others around us are at or "getting away with", we're engaging in our own little bit of shenanigans (eg: even before all this came to light, license fee evasion was still a big issue) or wishing we had the neck to do the same things.

These things happen in politics and these organisations because they are staffed by us! We are incredibly immature, parochial and selfish as a people. Not everyone, but enough that it spits in the face of anyone who DOES (apparently stupidly) attempt to play by the rules and who only ever seem to be the ones who DO face consequences as a result.

It's probably worth a separate thread really - are the Irish capable of effective self-governance?

Remind me, is this still a nothing burger?

News story in the Journal.ie ... Number of TV licences issued in January has risen. Positive news at last.

Sounds like you might like to go back under the boot of British governance or maybe become the 51st US state where two OAP' s are slugging it out to see who controls the country!

Ah the "fingers in ears" approach. That's one way to go I guess! Rather than face some self-examination and ask hard questions, let's just throw out lazy tropes about "de Brits" and "the Yanks" so we can continue on as usual.

Anyway, I've posed the question in a seperate thread so as not to derail this one, so feel free to join there.

Their hoping for a snowball effect by announcing the good news licence lie.

Its the same as the electric car sales ya just cant believe the rubbish that comes out of the Irish media or government.

As I said earlier….shut it down.

If you can’t fix something within a short period of time, then there is no other option.

The Politicans are busy enjoying themselves with the high visibility and grand standing.

Maybe it’s time for them to make a decision about RTE’s future, but then again the Jim Hackers in Dáil Éireann are not good at decision making unless it benefits themselves.

After this, there are plenty of other semi state and government departments that deserve this scrutiny.

Just churnalism. This latest resignation is dominating the news cycle.

Regards...jmcc

Listening to Pat Kenny and as expected, Martin is expected to come through this - regardless of any personal reservations, her Government colleagues will support her in the face of upcoming elections seems to be the line.

No surprise, no change...

Has Davin Power described it as "a bottle of smoke" yet?

Regards...jmcc

Of course; I get that. I'm just commenting on the resources, in terms of presenters and the hours broadcast in each regime.

And Ivanna Bachik says Martin has questions to answers. Characteristic sniping from the opposition. Anything to get her name in the meedja.

Catherine Martin is appearing really really weak. I wonder who sanctioned her going on Prime Time and firing the chair. She must have consulted with the 3 unwise men.

Absolutely @KaneToad .. thats why I said SOLD OFF - Lyric, 2FM. They would definitely stand up on there own as private commercial stations i think. As for TG4, R na G - jury is out TBH. I do listen. While I am a fan of the Irish language and keeping it alive I think I am in the minority.