Shane Cassells (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and the Minister of State and wish them well in their roles. Deputy Munster referred earlier to the Future of Media Commission, saying that the union would be disappointed. I am still a proud member of the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, and welcome the appointment of Siobhán Holliman to the commission. It is a good move to have someone with practical regional newspaper expertise on the commission. She is also co-chair of the Irish executive council of the NUJ, a representative on the Press Council of Ireland and has expertise with the Tuam Herald. I welcome her appointment.

When the previous Government announced the previous incarnation of this commission, it said it would report by September of last year. In the event, only the chair was appointed. The broader commission met for the first time last week. At the request of the former Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment, Deputy Bruton, RTÉ put on hold a number of proposals aimed at reducing its debt, including a further sale of the land at Montrose, the transfer of Lyric FM from Limerick and other proposals. That was addressed in a report by the Director General of RTÉ, Ms Dee Forbes, last November. That meant crucial reorganisation was put on hold, critically the land sale. The new commission will not report until next September. It is unclear whether RTÉ is still expected to hold off on these decisions pending the report of the new commission. I ask the Minister to address that.

In her earlier remarks, the Minister alluded to the fact that she has met representatives of NewsBrands Ireland and Local Ireland. She is due to meet representatives of the NUJ. I know that the union has submitted its news recovery plan. I think everyone can agree that the print industry, in particular, is under threat and that the future of regional newspapers in particular is extremely precarious. I ask the Minister to give her views on special measures to address this. I have raised this issue before. It clearly cannot await the commission's report next year because advertising platforms have collapsed and sales have been under threat for a decade. Are there any special measures to address that? Those questions are for the Minister, Deputy Martin.

Turning to the Minister of State, Deputy Chambers, I welcome the hugely significant funding provided, not just in the budget but again this week, and what that does.

The Minister and Minister of State have mentioned that the integral part sport plays in society is massive but it can be underpinned only through proper funding. They have done this and fronted up. They have met all of the organisations, not just at national level with pillar sports but also minority sports. When people drill down into the figures of €85 million this week they will see minority sports were looked after, and club resilience under pillar 3 is also crucial.

My question is on attendances at games. All of the major sporting organisations will say that while the funding is extremely welcome, their commercial model is based on getting people through the turnstiles and into our stadiums. Naturally and obviously, the advice from NPHET and the public health guidance and advice is critical but what measures can be taken in terms of assessing major stadia such as Croke Park, the Aviva Stadium and Thomond Park? In the United Kingdom, allowing a certain number of people in was trialled for certain premiership matches in stadiums such as The Amex in Brighton. Have discussions taking place with the Department and the pillar sports on the potential to get a certain number of people into the major stadiums? What were the results from that preliminary work to indicate how many a stadium such as Croke Park could handle with proper social distancing? Does this have potential for the hosting of games next summer? If not, is it a case we are looking at continued funding from the State to support these organisations in 2021?