Ms Dee Forbes:

As the Deputy rightly pointed out, technology is advancing at such a pace that it is overtaking everybody. One could say that Covid has enhanced that even more. The speed of adoption of things like online viewing or listening has catapulted in the last year.

Production is a complex business in many regards. Yes, in theory production can happen anywhere but having said that, there has to be infrastructure around it. The Deputy rightly pointed out that we produce a lot of content in Donnybrook. We also do so in Cork, as he knows. The studio in Cork produces "The Today Show" while John Creedon broadcasts from there on a regular basis and "Nationwide" comes out of there as well.

What is really interesting coming out of Covid is how we will work in the future. We are currently assessing this. It is fair to say that going back to a full Donnybrook, for example, will probably not happen for some time, so we are currently engaging with our staff with regard to the desire for a blended work week going forward and what that will look like. Will everybody be on site fully five days per week? They probably will not because of how we are doing this.

We must consider what that will do to our content production. Unless one has the infrastructure, it is not as easy as simply saying production can happen anywhere. However, it is certainly the case that technology enables us to be anywhere, as can be seen in the context of news reporting in particular. There was a time when one had to have a big outside broadcast unit on the road with the local correspondents. That is no longer the case. They have a small piece of equipment and can broadcast live and the signal comes to wherever it is needed.

That is probably a long-winded way of saying that all this is being reviewed to simply see what is the best way forward. I think it will be a mix, including what we have now, but technology will certainly enable us to build a new phase in our broadcasting.