Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I can tell Deputy Moynihan that I intend at 4 p.m. today to lay the report of the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland before both Houses. Under the 2009 Act, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is required to produce a fundamental review of funding for public service broadcasting as against the statutory objects in the Act that are on the public service broadcasters. This is the first time this has happened since 2009. The authority produced the report for me and I brought it to Government yesterday. It will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. If the spokespersons want a briefing or material on it, I will be glad to provide them.

In response to Deputy Lawlor's statement that RTE is as commercial as anyone else, I agree with what he said about Kfm. However, it is not accurate to say that RTE is as commercial as any other station and, therefore, there is an issue regarding State aid for it or private commercial broadcasters. Under the legislation establishing RTE and as it has evolved since then, there are a number of impositions on RTE and TG4 that they must statutorily perform. Those impositions do not apply to private commercial television or independent radio. They are laid down by law. In the 2009 Act, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is required to measure the performance against those statutory impositions and see whether public funding is adequate.

RTE has been run on a dual-funded model since it was founded, in other words, through the TV licence and commercial revenue. There is significant evasion in respect of the TV licence fee of the order of €30 million. In addition to evasion, technology means that many people are accessing RTE material on their iPhone or iPad. The collapse in commercial revenue is hugely significant. It has come down by €84 million since 2008. The reason for that is not just the recession but the fact that a large proportion of the advertising budget is migrating online. At the end of last year, something like 20% of the advertising budget went online to companies that can target segments of the audience to whom they want to sell product. I must look at the question raised by Deputy Lawlor in the context of the debate that will take place following the laying of the two reports before the Houses of the Oireachtas. I am aware of the argument he makes for the independent broadcasting sector.

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