Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am delighted to speak on this motion in respect of local radio because it is an issue close to my heart. I am still a proud card-carrying member of the National Union of Journalists. I worked in local media for 17 years. There is no doubt that local media outlets are under huge pressure. The very existence of our industry is under threat because of the attack on its revenue caused by the advance of social media. Social media is hugely welcome but having been involved in both journalism and politics, I know we need functioning independent local media to inform people, to hold our public representatives to account and to cover council meetings and our courts. Facebook is not going to do that. That medium will not send someone to sit in the courtroom or the county council chamber.

It is also important to stem the advance of that infamous phrase, "fake news". I am very lucky that my local radio station in County Meath, LMFM produces some of the best programming in the country, thanks to its politics coverage with "The Michael Reade Show", its newsroom, its sports team, and "The Late Lunch" with Mr. Gerry Kelly in the entertainment sphere. I know that if I want those shows to continue and want a future for my station, they must have a fighting chance and a level playing field. The proposals brought forward by Deputy Dooley in respect of the public service broadcasting fund provide a platform to allow local radio to survive and invest in its newsrooms.

I also back empowering the Revenue Commissioners to collect the licence fee. I pursued that with the Secretary General at the Committee of Public Accounts in discussions about the level of evasion, which accounts for some €40 million. Quite frankly, that is theft. It is theft from the rest of us who are actually paying the licence fee and from the public purse. It is accessing a public service for free. If that was happening in any other Department, it would be a scandal. It might not suit me to appear every morning on a political show like "The Michael Reade Show" in my local radio station. However, as a politician and a journalist I know the benefit Mr. Reade provides to the people by holding local public representatives to account. I want to see that man's show and local radio stations continue in the future. We need to back these proposals.

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