Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour) | Oireachtas source

My point is that the success of this artist and her not being played on Irish radio demonstrate the need for the Bill.

To quote another statistic, 90% of the royalties IMRO collects from Irish broadcasters goes to foreign artists. Is this not bonkers? We are not supporting our own. The industry supports tens of thousands of jobs, not only in production, but also in event management, PR and a range of other disciplines which all hang off the industry. These disciplines are found in all parts of Ireland, as the Minister knows, so the Bill will help support these jobs, maintain them and create more jobs in rural areas. Surely, we should support this industry. We all know what is happening to it. Spotify and other online media are disintermediating musicians. It is hard for them to get royalties and an income in the normal way because they are being disintermediated by technology. That is the reality. We therefore need ways to promote artists through the traditional medium of the radio station.

The Musicians Union of Ireland supports the Bill. A significant number of artists have written about it. The Shamrock and Harp Irish Playlist, SHIP, a who's who of Irish music, is promoting it.

I come from a little village called Portroe, part of which is a little place called Garykennedy. Garykennedy is very famous for Irish music and musicians. People such as Paddy O'Brien and, more recently, Gerry O'Connor, the world's best banjo player, come from the area. I have never heard Gerry O'Connor played on Irish radio, and he is from the same village as me and is the best in the world at what he does.

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