Denis Naughten (Roscommon-Galway, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I know it is an issue close to the Chairman's heart. The funding of TG4 was reduced by €500,000 in 2015 and this reduction, combined with an increased pressure on commercial income due to competition in the broadcasting market, made TG4's budget exceptionally challenging and impacted on the station's ability to deliver on its commitments for 2015. For example, TG4 was unable to increase its hours of new and original Irish language content in 2015, as originally planned. An additional €300,000 in current funding has been provided in 2016 to assist TG4 in meeting its obligations and allow it to compete by producing more home-produced content to help distinguish itself from international channels. The moneys paid to TG4 are key to ensuring the continued access to a comprehensive range of programming in the Irish language. TG4 will continue to maintain cost efficiency on commissioned programmes and in-house productions and to control its overheads and costs to maintain a lean and cost-effective structure.

Investment in new, innovative Irish language programming and content will help retain and grow TG4's audience for its scheduled and online offering. The Fios Físe project is an initiative devised specifically in response to the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland's five-year review. It sees the creation of a new audience measurement tool for TG4's core audience, which will furnish weekly quantitative and qualitative audience data and information to TG4 from a panel of 350 viewers using online reporting methods. TG4 broadcasts 24 hours a day and in 2015 it broadcast an average of 4.8 hours of new original Irish language content output per day. Total Irish language broadcast hours were 5,021 in 2015, some 57.3% of the total broadcast hours.

TG4 ensured that 75% of all public funding in 2015 went directly into the production of Irish language programming content, which is above its commitment of 70%. The remaining 25% is spent on its broadcast and related activities. TG4 commissioned almost €21.2 million in programming from the independent production section in 2015 and included 680 hours of new Irish language programming in addition to more than 700 hours of re-voiced material and subtitling.

In fairness to TG4, it has some of the most innovative programming. Most public representatives do not see a lot of television but some of the programmes I do see are those on TG4 and these do not just relate to sport. Its programming has been innovative in terms of history and new types of programmes, particularly those for younger people. It must be remembered that the vast majority of content that younger people are accessing is coming in from and being broadcast by production companies outside the European Union. It is important that we have good quality content and both TG4 and RTE provide it through their television channels.