Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The current legal requirements regarding television licences are set out in Part 9 of the Broadcasting Act 2009. As the Deputy is aware, following Government consideration of the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission, a technical working group was established to examine potential reforms to the TV licence funding model.

The group submitted its report to me at the end of March. However, given recent events, it is clear that public trust in RTÉ must be rebuilt before a decision of this significance can be made. Therefore, a Government decision on the future funding model for public service broadcasting has been paused until such time as the external independent review of RTÉ is complete and the findings considered.

In addition to funding RTÉ, the television licence fee is also currently used to fund content on broadcasters, including commercial television and radio stations, through the Sound and Vision scheme. Part 10 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 makes provision for the disbursement of 7% of the net TV licence fee receipts to the broadcasting fund for the Sound and Vision and archiving schemes.

The Sound and Vision scheme provides significant support to the broadcasting sector. In addition to funding from the TV licence, since taking office, I have allocated an additional €22.4 million in Exchequer funding to the scheme. Of this, €7.5 million of this has been ring-fenced for commercial radio sector and €1.2 million for community radio. The Government has accepted the recommendation of the Future of Media Commission that the broadcasting fund be converted into a media fund to provide funding on a platform-neutral basis to the wider media sector, including for news and current affairs output. The latter will need legislative change and the approval of the European Commission.

In the interim, €6 million has been allocated in budget 2023 to establish the media fund on an administrative basis with the priority being the development of a local democracy reporting scheme and a courts reporting scheme. Both of these will support media at local, regional and national levels, including the radio sector. My Department has consulted extensively with stakeholders regarding the proposed approach and is currently finalising the broad parameters of the schemes. This will inform their detailed design and implementation by Coimisiún na Mean. State aid approval may also be required from the European Commission and will be sought in parallel. I believe these new schemes will play a key role in ensuring the provision of high-quality reporting on local authority meetings and court proceedings, which are fundamental matters of public interest.

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