Last week's front page headline in the Sunday Tribune, 'RTE in Crisis', was very surprising however.

Firstly, it was the first mention I've seen of such a 'crisis'. Secondly, the headline's stark message wasn't reflected in the article, much of which merely questioned whether RTE can continue the success of ongoing series like True Lives, Podge & Rodge and dramas like Pure Mule; or whether RTE is right to bring big international series like Lost and Desperate Housewives to Irish audiences first.

The most surprising element of the story, however, was the accusation that RTE is "neglecting home-produced drama and documentary journalism". These are two areas where current investment by RTE is greater than it has ever been in its history.

In the last three years, investment in home-produced drama has more than doubled.

In 2002 RTE spent 10m on new commissioned drama; by last year that figure had risen to 24m. Meanwhile, total investment in home-produced drama in 2005 was over 43m, meaning that Irish drama accounted for 23% of the total spend on indigenous Irish programming that year.

Drama production is expensive and for this investment we only get a fraction of the hours of other types of programming. Yet drama defines RTE. It makes us different to our commercial competitors. It has also given us huge success . . . Love Is The Drug, Pure Mule, Stardust, Fallout, Showbands and The Clinic, alongside Fair City, show that rather than neglecting homeproduced drama, RTE has embraced it as a core part of our primetime schedule.

And that commitment will be maintained. RTE Television will air three new drama series in the first six months of next year, while RTE Two's new drama series Legend, which begins tomorrow, represents another major investment.

Our documentary output tells a similar story. RTE's investment in factual programming has more than doubled in the last three years, with spending on our arts programming tripling in the same period. We remain one of the few broadcasters to air investigative documentaries on our main channel, through Prime Time Investigates. We will continue to invest heavily this year in factual programming in the True Lives and Hidden History strands, as well as screening new series on third world issues and the world Aids epidemic, while both Would You Believe and Scannal will return with 24 new half-hour documentaries.

I would be the first to admit that RTE Television gets programming wrong. We can always improve. But we're also getting a lot right at the moment, which is why we are one of the very few terrestrial broadcasters in Ireland (or indeed the UK) that is actually growing our audiences despite increased satellite competition.

RTE Two is now the secondmost watched channel in Ireland for the first time in years and between now and February we will launch at least 25 new series on RTE.

Hopefully that particular crisis will continue.

Noel Curran, Managing director, RTE Television.