Commercial broadcasters have welcomed the recommendations of the Forum on Broadcasting which seek to make RTÉ more accountable for its public service remit.
TV3 chief executive Mr Rick Hetherington said the forum, which consulted industry representatives over five months, had produced "a document that seems to give everyone something".
"It's the first time someone has recognised the need for RTÉ, as the recipient of a massive amount of public funding, to be accountable, and to relate that funding to the services it provides," he said.
Today FM also welcomed the recommendations on accountability and industry regulation, as did RTÉ, which said it was hopeful specific proposals based on the report would be brought to the Cabinet by October. Mr Hetherington said there was "a sense of urgency for our industry" as neither RTÉ nor commercial broadcasters were in great financial shape.
"The viability of the private sector is crucially in question right now. If this drags on and takes many years to implement, I dare say, it truly causes me great concern there will not be much of an industry beyond RTÉ."
One of the forum's key recommendations is the creation of an RTÉ charter against which the State broadcaster's public service remit could be measured. "Adjustments to the licence fee should be dependent on RTÉ's performance in meeting the requirements set out under the charter," the report states.
RTÉ executive Mr Peter Feeney said it welcomed this proposal, along with other recommendations on the licence fee. The report said the fee should be established on a base to allow RTÉ "move forward" to meet its public service remit. It added the fee should be index-linked to help remove RTÉ from political influence.
Of the latter proposal, Mr Feeney said RTÉ would be "very keen" to see it implemented.
He added: "If the Government embraces the recommendations RTÉ will end up being a much more accountable body, which we would welcome."
The Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, said he planned to bring specific proposals on the matter to the Cabinet in three to four weeks, and invited further submissions in the interim. The forum was set up last March by his predecessor, Ms de Valera, who had declined an RTÉ request for a doubling of the fee from €89, granting only an €18 increase. The forum was specifically precluded from making any recommendation on the adequacy or otherwise of the current licence fee.
The Labour Party's spokesman on communications, Mr Eamon Gilmore, urged Mr Ahern to act immediately on the report. He added the Minister had been presented with "a comprehensive agenda to consolidate the future of public broadcasting in Ireland".
Mr Seamus Dooley, Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists said: "We would be very afraid that, after the fanfare, RTÉ would get its licence fee increase and that would be it. The report would be left on the shelf to gather dust."
He noted the current dispute with the FAI over sports broadcasting rights had "given an insight into what would happen if broadcasting simply became a commercial activity".
The forum also made made a recommendation about the way the licence fee was collected by An Post. The report said: "If, after a period of three years, the collection arrangements are still unsatisfactory, then the forum would advise that collection be put to public tender."
The report can be read in full at the Department website: www.marine.gov.ie
