Mr. Seamus McCarthy:

One of the programmes under the 2019 Vote for Communications, Climate Action and Environment funded a range of expenditures related to broadcasting. As a result of changes in departmental responsibilities following the formation of the Government in 2020, responsibility for broadcasting expenditure transferred to the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media and will, from 2020 on, be accounted for in the Vote for that Department.

Broadcasting expenditure in 2019 totalled €260.4 million. The largest element of the expenditure was annual grant funding provided to RTÉ, totalling €196.5 million. Grant funding to Teilifís na Gaeilge amounted to €36.2 million. The broadcasting fund, which is used mainly to grant assist the development and production of programmes for radio and television, received a contribution from the Vote of €14.8 million in 2019. The fund is managed by the BAI.

A substantial part of the Vote expenditure on broadcasting is funded by appropriations-in-aid in the form of broadcasting licence fee income. Receipts of licence fees in 2019 totalled €222.7 million, an increase of around 1.6% from the 2018 level. Payments to An Post to cover the costs of collection of the licence fees totalled €11.4 million in 2019. The vote contribution to the broadcasting fund is equivalent to 7% of the net licence fee receipts, after the payment to An Post. RTÉ receives grant funding equivalent to the balance of the fee receipts.

Committee members may wish to note that while I audit the financial statements of Teilifís na Gaeilge and the BAI, I do not have responsibility for the audit of the financial statements of RTÉ, which is classified as a commercial State body. Consequently, it would not be appropriate for me to comment on RTÉ’s financial statements.