Senator thinks puppets are out of hand In trouble: Podge & Rodge

RTÉ'S INFAMOUS duo Podge and Rodge came in for sharp criticism from Fianna Fáil Senator Jim Walsh yesterday at a Dáil committee meeting.

Mr Walsh told director general of RTÉ Cathal Goan, who was appearing before the Committee on Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, that he had been switching around channels "looking for football coverage" when he came across the puppets. Their guest was former Manchester United player Lee Sharpe, he said, so he decided to watch.

"I heard the most crass, sexually implicit [ sic] points put to him," Mr Walsh said. "I said 'Is that what I'm paying my licence fee for?... Is that the standards we are setting ourselves?' "

He said he knew the argument that they were only puppets, but they were not - they were somebody's arm.

Fine Gael deputy Michael Darcy said he thought the puppets were "funny guys".

"I would say to Senator Walsh, turn it off."

Mr Walsh said it was not just him; he had spoken to some young people who agreed.

"They must be as conservative as you," Mr Darcy responded. "They should have been in bed," added Labour deputy Liz McManus.

Mr Goan said levels of expectation were high among licence payers about what they expected of RTÉ, and this invariably translated into "what am I paying my licence fee for?" when they did not like a particular programme. The programmes they did not like varied as much as the people.