John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for his frank reply. Approximately 2.5 million people tune in to independent radio stations across the country every day. Having served as a local representative for many years, as Deputy Rabbitte did in Dublin, I am keenly aware of the contribution that independent local radio stations make in serving the needs of communities and in enhancing local dialogue. That cannot be over emphasised.

In many cases local radio services, although commercially run, provide a real public service with a local perspective that helps bind communities together. This could be highlighted in many constituency of Waterford where, for instance, the local radio station, WLR, has a listenership of 71% of all adults on a weekly basis and its daily share of radio listenership is 48%, making it enormously influential in the broadcast area.

See this speech in context