Ciarán Cannon (Galway East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am aware from speaking to the Minister that she is more than aware of the value and power of local radio to engender a deep sense of community and solidarity in rural areas. She is from County Monaghan so she will understand this. She has spoken to me numerous times about the power of local radio. Deputy Naughton quite rightly mentioned the power of local radio to disseminate crucial information at times of crisis in rural regions. This became crystal clear to me during the pandemic. On Galway Bay FM, the morning current affairs programme hosted by Keith Finnegan essentially became the go-to repository of and resource for crucial information on how to gain access to the pandemic unemployment payment and other supports, which were being rolled out almost overnight in certain cases in the very early stages of the pandemic. Elderly people living on their own had been unsure about how to access the supports. They were not left to feel alone, simply because they had the radio on the kitchen counter. There was a conversation they could tune in to. That is the essence of local radio. The sector has been in existence for over 20 years, but, as Deputy Naughton points out, it is still recovering from the pandemic and finding it really difficult to chart a way forward commercially for its stations. During the pandemic, we found a way of suspending the levy in acknowledgment of the very difficult circumstances in which the sector found itself.

Although it is, perhaps, not in quite such a difficult situation right now, it is far from financially viable.

I ask the Minister to look at all options available to her to support the sector in navigating the next 12 months in particular. There are companies that are reducing their advertising budget. In addition, we are seeing a lot of those budgets migrating away from local radio and commercial radio in general and over to social media platforms. That is a significant factor in the reduction of advertising revenue available to local radio stations. I ask the Minister to use whatever resources, instruments and tools are available to her to support the stations over the next 12 to 24 months while they find a way of navigating back to viability. There needs to be a focus on that. As I said earlier, I know she is cognisant of the challenges they are facing and she will do her very best for the sector, working in collaboration with them and supporting them through the difficult months ahead.

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