Tag Archives: Phone-in

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This morning.

Minister for Finance Michael Noonan and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe  leaving RTÉ studios in Donnybrook, Dublin 4, where they appeared on the Seán O’Rourke show (top) for the annual post-budget phone-in.

Meanwhile, Aaron Rogan, in The Times Ireland edition, reports:

RTE confirmed yesterday that Michael Noonan and Paschal Donohoe would be shown listeners’ questions in advance of appearing on this morning’s call-in show on Today with Sean O’Rourke.

Ministers were criticised last year when The Times reported that advisers for Mr Noonan and Brendan Howlin, the then public expenditure minister, were shown questions from the public before their appearance on the programme the day after the budget was unveiled.

A reporter from The Times witnessed conversations between RTE staff and departmental advisers after being shown into the wrong room. The unnoticed reporter watched as an adviser with the Department of Finance warned RTE personnel that the ministers would not do the interview unless the questions were provided.

Good times.

RTE preps ministers on listeners’ questions (The Times, Aaron Rogan)

Previously: A Phoney Phone-In

Rollingnews

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Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin and Finance Minister Michael Noonan in studio with Seán O’Rourke on Wednesday

Further to the RTÉ phone-in brouhaha…

Erica Fleming, the homeless mother who has been living in a Dublin hotel since June with her nine-year-old daughter – and whose questions appeared to cause a headache for the advisors of ministers Michael Noonan and Brendan Howlin – has spoken to Ellen Coyne of the Ireland edition of the Times:

“I just think it’s really funny that the people we elected into government can’t think for themselves. As government ministers, they should be able to give a real honest answer and not have to have it written down in front of them. I don’t think the question I was asking was very hard.

“It shouldn’t have caused so much fuss. I did not expect that they would have been preparing responses to my question. On that basis, it’s not really a response is it, it’s just a speech.”

Meanwhile, The Times continues to reject RTÉ’s claims that yesterday’s report was inaccurate, and…

A former adviser to a previous finance minister who had appeared on RTE for a similar post-budget show said they were not provided with any questions in advance in the past.

“We would get broad guidance about the topics that were going to come up. You might get a list that said pensions, childcare, income tax, that kind of thing. We never got the questions or any specific details about the person, I’m not even sure we got the caller’s name in advance,” the former adviser said.

Ministers criticised over phone-in demands (Ellen Coyne and Niamh Lyons, The Times Ireland edition)

Previously: A Phoney Phone-In

Meanwhile…

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Max Keiser

There you go.

Previously: Ireland’s Biggest Problem Is RTÉ, Says Max Keiser

A Phoney Phone-In

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Further to this morning’s story in the Ireland edition of The Times, above, about the post-Budget phone-in on the Today With Sean O’Rourke Show yesterday, RTÉ has released the following statement…

“This morning’s article in The Times is factually incorrect. At no time was a threat delivered that a Minister would not appear on the programme as a result of his press advisers not seeing the questions in advance.”

“In the case of yesterday’s programme, advance access to audience questions on specific individuals’ circumstances post-budget queries was given to ministerial advisers as standard practice.

The primary purpose of the post-budget programme is to enable the more detailed, personal and specific queries raised by individual voters and businesses to be addressed to the most accurate degree possible, and that requires some research to be done by government advisers on the individuals’ specific questions.”

“This protocol was agreed in advance as has been standard practice for years and there was no debate about access to the questions prior to going on air for that specific programme.”

“We would like to reiterate that RTÉ does not advise Ministers or guests of questions in advance of interviews. The Today with Sean O’ Rourke editorial team have complete and total editorial control of the programme and only they determine which calls go to air and in which order.”

Meanwhile editor of the Ireland edition of The Times, Richie Oakley has tweeted…

UPDATE:

RTÉ’s response to ‘The Times’ article (RTÉ)

Earlier: A Phoney Phone-In