Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Members for participating in this important debate. There is absolutely no doubt that public service broadcasting, as we know it, is under pressure and that we must amend the model. RTÉ is making a significant effort in that respect as it has recognised the difficulties it has with audience reach for some of its existing offerings. It is devising a new strategy. It is equally important that we evaluate that strategy and ensure we can be convinced in this House that it is sustainable.

I agree that public money is very important in supporting that objective, but in the debate Deputies seem to have forgotten that the BAI recommended the provision of an extra €30 for RTÉ. We provided €10 million in last year's budget. This year, when we were not able to grant increases in social welfare payments, we did not ask the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to provide additional money to top up its contribution, which is the only way it is done. This year we also decided to tender to replace the leaky system of collection, as it has been predicted that a better system of collection would add a further €10 million in terms of capacity. We have recognised that we need to move to gain consensus on a workable system for a charge that would be device independent. The cross-departmental working group believes it will take time to build that consensus, for which it has put forward a number of reasons in its report.

Some may say the local property tax would be an alternative method of collection. We have had difficulty in this House in even considering the reviewing of its valuation which was due last year because imposing additional charges on people is contentious. Added to this is the ownership concept, while a service charge to contribute to television, radio or public service broadcasting is related to occupancy of a home. Naturally, it is a contentious matter and there is no consensus in the House on such a move. We can then consider the move to bring computers, laptops, tablets and phones within a charge. That would be a significant change and we would need to consider how a base for collection could be developed.

The Oireachtas committee favoured a system whereby a service charge would be collected by Revenue. However, Revenue's view is that its job is to collect taxes, not service charges. The report outlined some of the complexity involved, and I probably am not doing it justice. The committee noted that it will take time to build a proper pathway and achieve consensus across the House as to how we implement it. There is a challenge involved in broadening the base.

Most of the speakers - Deputy Boyd Barrett, in particular - were of the view that RTÉ needs to make significant changes. That view is clearly shared by the management and board. There is a recognition that RTÉ needs to make its public service offering more vibrant if it is to attract new audiences and reach the platforms on which people are consuming media. That will require significant restructuring within the organisation, considerable investment in new areas and a reduction in the scale of other traditional areas that are not delivering the type of platform needed for the future. We must ask ourselves what public service broadcasting should look like in ten years, in a world where the pace of change continues to accelerate. In an environment where people use different media to obtain news, information and entertainment, how can we ensure that Irish drama and other content reaches an audience?

We do not want a situation where the public broadcaster is merely a reserve that is not switched onto by most people. It is right that we take time to evaluate our approach and obtain a wider view of the direction of public service broadcasting rather than simply looking at charge mechanisms. The latter is an important consideration but it is not the entire job by any means. There is work to be done here. The Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill 2019, which is currently before the House, affords us an opportunity to consider some of the changes that are required. We intend to bring forward an amendment to that legislation to allow for the contracting out of the charge.

With regard to individual content provision, including the decision to close the Lyric FM studios in Limerick, such issues do not present to the Minister for sign-off. Issues that are brought to me include where specific channels or radio stations are being changed or closed, the cessation of the Aertel service, the sale of the RTÉ Guideand so on. Some of those issues require explicit approval by the Minister and others do not. Several speakers questioned whether Dublin 4 is the right place for RTÉ headquarters either in respect of the scale of coverage or cost effectiveness. That question is worthy of consideration and assessment.

I do not have sufficient time to respond to all of the comments. However, a consistent theme from colleagues is that public service broadcasting is not just about the publicly owned broadcaster and that, as we look to the future, we must design something that is robust enough to support and sustain the value of local broadcasting and local content. Under state aid rules, such a model would have to be designed carefully. One cannot simply give out subsidies to private bodies; it is necessary to devise a model where we have quality content that is deemed desirable by the Oireachtas and for which others would compete. Some of the proposals included the suggestion of support for basic costs but, as I understand it, that is not something that could be approved under state aid rules.

NewERA has been undertaking an assessment of the robustness of the proposal put forward by RTÉ. It has also been consulting the BAI on these matters. It is important to note that he Minister is not the regulator of content or the appraiser of whether the content offered by RTÉ is reaching the appropriate audiences. That regulatory function is performed by BAI. Assessments by both NewERA and BAI are important in evaluating the direction of travel that is proposed. RTÉ has done the right thing in setting out a programme and seeking to reposition itself. The Government will strive to support that repositioning. As all Members will agree, it is vital that we sustain the production of vigorous, open and culturally diverse content of Irish interest that is available to people. I am determined that we will do so. I thank Deputies for their contributions.

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