Professor Pauric Travers:

The Senators asked a number of questions about radio. The Reuters report confirmed what we knew, that is, that we listen to a lot of radio in Ireland and tend to do radio well here. Obviously, there are significant financial challenges for local radio, to which we will come in a moment, but there are financial challenges right across the board regarding the business model for all the national broadcasters as well. Some steps have been taken to try to ease the situation for local radio, but we recognise and accept - this is what we are addressing in the strategic theme relating to sustainability - that there is a fundamental challenge regarding the funding model right across the board.

This brings me to the elephant in the room which Deputy Ryan mentioned, that is, that we have a broadcasting context and landscape which has been fixed and is shaped by a particular set of legislation and that, in the meantime, the world is changing rapidly. It is to be hoped some of this will be addressed by the AVMS when it is finalised, but we certainly accept the anomalies that exist. These anomalies are growing in terms of what is and is not regulated. At the heart of this is a financial issue which means that the funding - the revenue - which might go to supporting local radio, community radio or Irish national broadcasters is being hoovered up and is going elsewhere. This is not an issue that can be easily resolved. The full resolution of it does not lie within the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland or even within the Oireachtas. It is a global issue but we must begin to respond to it. I will hand over to my colleague to respond to some of the other issues raised.