Brendan Griffin (Kerry, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will be very brief because, my apologies, I have to dash away to what I expect to be a very riveting meeting of the Dáil reform committee. I will try to be very brief. The reason is because I have to be elsewhere.

I welcome the Minister, Deputy Martin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, and thank them for their work to date.

I thank them both for their work to date and, in particular, congratulate them on the recent budget and their achievements in that regard on all areas relating to their briefs. There was some very positive news in that.

I concur very much with what Deputy O'Sullivan has already referred to and I will not go over the old ground that he has already covered because he has covered it very well. If I may, I will take up the issue of the independent broadcasters. I certainly agree with Deputy O'Sullivan that it would be important for the Minister to meet with them. It is very important that they would continue to receive supports through the sound and vision programme under the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, to take them into the spring of next year. It is really important as well that the BAI levy for the second half of 2020 would not have to be paid by the independent broadcasters, given the current scenario and that we are back to level 5 and the huge drop-off that they have seen in their turnover, particularly their advertising revenue. The other thing I would ask as well is that the wage subsidisation schemes that are available would be made available to independent broadcasters as well, especially those who have seen more than 20% of a fall-off in their turnover.

Can I just stress how important a role these broadcasters play throughout the country and we are all aware of the importance of our own local stations? I can speak, I suppose, from a Kerry perspective, and from Radio Kerry's perspective, we have had a fantastic service there for more than 30 years. Particularly at this time, however, we should bear in mind that we are talking about a rural county with some very sparsely populated communities, many people living alone, and an older age demographic. Without that local radio service, the level of isolation and the sense of loneliness for people would be far greater. I am not saying that is not there at the moment - it is - but it would be far greater without having that local service. Those providing that local service deserve all the support that they can get at the moment because they are providing an enormously important service to people at this very difficult time and they will do so throughout this winter as well. I therefore urge immediate consultation and a meeting with the IBI but also I would be very supportive of strong supports for them.

I congratulate the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, on the sports-related matters in the budget. I just want to get an update on the forthcoming sports capital programme, when it will open, and if he has any further details that he could provide for the committee.