Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge the excellent work both Ministers have done in the months since they have taken up their portfolios, specifically on the recent budget announcements and on funding that was allocated during the July stimulus programme.

I will start with questions to the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers. Regarding his engagement with the expert group on the return to play in sport, hopefully we will move out of level 5 restrictions as swiftly as possible. A move to level 3 restrictions would still not allow many schoolboy and underage teams to participate in sport. That would require a move to level 2 restrictions. I ask that there be proper engagement with the different sporting organisations such as the FAI, the GAA and the IRFU, to ensure young people can participate in sport once we come out of level 5 restrictions. It is crucial for their health and well-being. I would like there to be some focus on that especially on underage players.

In the context of levelling the playing field, the Women's Gaelic Players Association, WGPA, issued a report on female intercounty players in terms of ensuring best practices and it covered travel expenses and Government funding allocations.

I would like to hear what engagement we will have in future in terms of levelling the participation of females in regard to their codes and their sporting organisations.

What engagement is the Minister currently undertaking between her Department and other Departments on the implementation of the traffic light system? That is crucially important for the inbound tourism sector.

Among the recommendations of the tourism recovery task force was a call for a comprehensive rapid test, trace and isolate system to facilitate the inbound tourism sector, especially for overseas visitors. That is crucially important. We are highly dependent on overseas travel, which accounts for 75% of tourism revenue.

I welcome the staycation campaign this year. It had a major impact across the country. Mayo benefited significantly from it. I welcome that, but additional marketing and funding is needed for the domestic market to improve the offerings. We must examine how the funding trickles down to those who are at the coalface. We must have better mechanisms in play in that regard.

It would be remiss of me not to mention independent radio stations. Most committee members have been contacted by their local radio stations. From the onset of the pandemic, advertising revenues, on which stations are hugely dependent, collapsed. Independent radio stations have only maintained their current offerings due to Government subsidies. It is crucially important that the Minister meets again with members of the independent radio sector. What they are asking for is reasonable, that is, that the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, BAI, should provide additional sound and vision funding to support the sector from September 2020 until February 2021. In addition, there should be an immediate suspension of the BAI levy, which should be backdated to July 2020. In recognition of the essential services that they do provide and given that advertising turnover has fallen by more than 20%, they should be eligible to claim the employment wage subsidy scheme. Many local radio stations are just about holding on to their staff at present and without financial supports it is inevitable that there will be cuts.

I urge the Minister to take a personal interest in the matter. She knows its importance. Midwest Radio in my locality provides a fantastic service for the local community. However, it is not just that, it has provided companionship to people and familiar voices to those who are most vulnerable in recent months. The messaging around Covid and public health information has been crucial. I urge the Minister to take a personal interest.