Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the report and I thank the Chairman and members of the committee for their input into it. The Minister, Deputy Naughten, was right to allow it to come out. I have had only a brief look at the report.

As somebody who spent 20 years presenting and producing on Shannonside Northern Sound radio, as the Minister knows, and having spent some time presenting on Irish television as well as doing some work with TG4, I have a fair understanding of the business. One fact that emerges from this report is that 110,000 households in the country are without a television set, compared to 42,000 without a set in May 2013. That is a startling statistic. If one were to take a message from this report, it is that we have to tackle this situation because obviously it is a revenue issue and we will have to raise more revenue. All the independent radio stations have to live up to their responsibilities. There must be a news input, and the news input in local radio stations is outstanding. Local radio stations also link to the national broadcasters at times for particular broadcasts.

Our party spokesperson in this area, Deputy Dooley, in a submission for this report on the possibility of raising more revenue referred to retransmission fees. I understand the Minister is anxious to consider that. It is a new area that needs to be examined. Also, we must acknowledge that local print media in many parts of the country are under enormous pressure. We must look at that and consider how we can support them in some way. There are a considerable number of jobs tied up with the print media and local radio and if we do not come up with a modernised system of supporting these outlets many jobs in the sector could be lost.

I welcome the report. It is a huge volume of information from many sectors. We will have a great deal of discussion before we get down to putting real meat on the bone on this issue.

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