Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 11 November 2020

Joint Committee on Media, Tourism, Arts, Culture, Sport and the Gaeltacht

Future of Public Service Broadcasting and Impact of Covid-19 on the Media Sector: Discussion

Mr. Adrian Lynch:

I will refer to the point on intellectual property, IP. IP is the basis of the entire broadcasting industry, certainly from a revenue point of view in terms of a return. It is essential. Coming back to the licence fee, if we manage to fix it, it means that we can invest in other broadcasters and in the independent sector, which is a key partner for us. We know we have the talent here from the story-telling point of view to tell our story to the world. It is trying to recognise also that when that is done, such as something like "Normal People", there is a reason that thousands of people are now trying to get into Trinity College. People will want to come and visit here. It has a cultural impact. We need to see beyond the small numbers. We really value culture here and we have a fantastic culture. That is a great story that we can tell the world. That is key and I concur with the Deputy's point.

In terms of the collection part, that will be for the commission to determine. There are many examples across Europe. When the Deputy was talking earlier, he was almost describing public service media as a utility to democracy. I know that some other countries have found a different way to bill it.

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