Mr. John Purcell:

I thank the Chairman and the members of the committee for inviting us here today. I am very glad to be here. Many of us have been involved in independent radio for most of the 25 years, which have gone by very fast. I am particularly pleased to be joined by colleagues from around the country. We are delighted to have this opportunity to come before the committee because we see that it has a very important role in the formulation of policy and has a particular understanding of the impact of our members' work throughout the country, which we appreciate that.
As the Chairman mentioned, it is a very important anniversary - 25 years. In his public notice of the meeting, the Chairman referred to independent radio playing an indispensable role in public life. We hope that the occasion of our 25th anniversary will be an opportunity for us to look back, as the Chairman indicated in his opening remarks, but also to look forward and to see what steps need to be taken to ensure that the successes of independent broadcasting can continue into the future. We last addressed the committee in February 2013 and I feel a certain sense of déjà vubecause while we outlined many of the challenges and issues we face, we feel that the time since then has been characterised by an unfortunate lack of progress so there is a certain amount of frustration on behalf of our members and an impatience to proceed with the work of securing the future.
We represent a diverse group of stations throughout the country - two national, four regional, one multi-city and 27 local radio stations. We are an alternative voice and I think we have introduced an alternative view that is not just Dublin-centric, which is hugely important in the Irish media landscape. The committee will see from our presentation that the media landscape in 1984 was a very simple place. The turnover of Irish media was in the region of £57 million. Fast-forward to 2011, which is the last year for which we have figures available, and one will see that a revolution has taken place. The media landscape in which we operate is hugely complex. It is not longer just Irish media with a few isolated channels such as BBC1, BBC2 and Channel 4 coming in. We are now in a globalised media marketplace.
Over the past 25 years, independent radio has played a unique role in protecting and nurturing Ireland's unique identity and personality. However, we have faced upheaval over the past number of years due to the economic downturn. I want to be clear that the changes that have overtaken our industry are not just due to the recession and will not change when the economy, hopefully, recovers. While listenership endures, and our members enjoy very strong listenership, the economic basis upon which we operate has changed. In 1988, independent radio meant some pirate broadcasters who operated outside the regulatory framework and RTE. Next week marks 25 years since the first voice on independent radio went live on 20 July on what is now FM104. The man who spoke the first words in Irish on that day - we might have a prize - is in a photo contained in our presentation. He is actually sitting beside me. Mr. Scott Williams was the first voice on independent radio in Ireland under the current framework.
Today we have RTE, as we did 25 years ago, but we also have a rich tapestry of independent stations. Members can see them in our presentation. We have been hugely successful. We feel we have been successful because of the access to the airwaves we provide. There are studios the length and breadth of the country because of the relevance of what we broadcast, because we respond to the needs and interests of our listeners, because we are flexible and nimble and adapt to the situations we face and, importantly, because we provide an important platform for local democracy and coverage of local issues, which I am sure is appreciated by the members of this committee and indeed the wider Oireachtas.

They are some of the changes that have happened culturally over the last 25 years, but a revolution in listenership habits has taken place. The next slide provides a very stark illustration of radio listenership. The nosediving line in red is the listenership of RTE stations and the rapidly rising line shows listenership of independent stations, be they national, regional or local. The market share, which is time spent listening to radio, again shows that independent radio has surpassed the national broadcaster. Almost 70% of time spent listening to radio in this country is spent listening to independent stations.

While there has been a revolution in the listening habits of Irish audiences in the past 25 years, there has not been a revolution in how broadcasting is looked at, regulated or legislated for. The pitch is still very sloped towards RTE. It appears to us that RTE, with its dual funding and range of services, is undoubtedly a public service broadcaster in large elements of what it does, but stations such as 2FM cannot be described as public service. That contributes to a situation in which we are on an unfair playing field and RTE can have its cake and eat it. There is a certain amount of frustration among our members because we are repeatedly told what a great service we provide, but we have been particularly frustrated in recent months by the lack of progress. The statements of support have not been backed up by practical means. It appears to us that RTE continues to operate on a different playing field. We are governed by a very stringent licensing regime but, unfortunately, the decision on whether to create new services for RTE lies very much within the ambit of RTE. I mentioned 2FM already, but public money is also going to RTE Gold, Pulse and 2XM. They are services which receive millions in public money but are not providing a public service.

There is a great need to act. On the occasion of our 25th year in operation, we feel that the public service we provide cannot be taken for granted and is in danger of being slowly eroded. The situation is being exacerbated by RTE's unlimited commercial mandate, which is damaging our members. We question the appropriateness of some trading practices of RTE, which are effectively being undertaken with subsidy from public money. It appears to us that all resources go to RTE. While I have made critical remarks about RTE, I am not anti-RTE, nor are the independent broadcasters unduly critical of RTE. The Government must act and the Legislature must act to ensure a win-win situation in public service broadcasting for the State broadcaster and for independent broadcasters. We believe a win-win situation is possible.

I have outlined my frustration at what has happened the recent past. In the past week we have seen the appointment of a new Minister, Deputy Alex White. On behalf of the members of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland, I wish him well and I welcome him to his job. We are encouraged by the fact that he has worked as a broadcaster. We hope he understands that public service broadcasting is not purely the preserve of RTE but is also provided by independent broadcasters. We feel that he needs to hit the ground running and take action before the next general election. His priorities should be to recognise the unique role of both local and independent radio and RTE and the contribution of everyone; to take practical action to ensure that the contribution we have made over the past 25 years has been protected and also that RTE can protect and focus on key elements; and to have the courage to introduce the reforms that are needed.

Our long-standing policies which we have outlined to the committee previously remain in place. We remain consistently committed to these areas - namely, the recognition of our public service contribution; a fund to support independent broadcasters in the provision of public service broadcasting; the amendment of section 108 of the Act to define and limit the commercial mandate of RTE; and the funding of the BAI from the public service broadcasting charge or from the television licence. We have developed a practical and workable model in relation to the public service fund which we believe can be introduced without undermining RTE. In relation to the commercial mandate, we understand that Indecon consultants have undertaken a report, which is with the Minister. The way RTE is regulated is an essential issue to address.

Radio faces a future of change. We have made an enormous contribution over the years through coverage of local politics, local life, civic society and local sport and by providing a voice for people who would not dream of phoning a national station or who would not be considered by the national broadcaster. We are very willing to change and we have worked flexibly to change our practices in recent years. We want to protect our unique relationship with the Irish people. We are all Irish-owned and we want to continue that way. We want to remain universally flexible and accessible and we are willing to be regulated and to operate as responsible broadcasters. We seek courageous, creative and determined political action to bring about positive change.

We hope we can work further with the committee to ensure that change for the better can be brought about in Irish broadcasting so that in 25 years' time somebody else can sit in this seat and look back over half a century of successful independent broadcasting in this country. The jury is out on that at the moment. We are at a fork in the road. It is a case of a breakthrough or a breakdown. We very much hope it is a breakthrough. We look with hope to this committee because we know it is respected widely by the decision makers in the Department and by the Ministers. We assure the committee that we will work unstintingly with the members, individually and collectively, to bring about positive change in the future. I thank committee members for their time.