Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

In case this is the final time for me to contribute this year, I wish all colleagues in the House, the Ceann Comhairle, or the Cathaoirleach Gníomhach in his absence, and anyone watching at home a very happy and safe Christmas, and best wishes for the coming year.

I welcome the establishment of Coimisiún na Meán, and I note this Bill, which proposes to designate the commission as Ireland’s digital services regulator. This House is probably suffering fatigue from talking endlessly about our national broadcaster in recent months, and rightly so. However, I would like to take the opportunity this afternoon to talk about the fantastic radio offerings in my constituency of Clare and the challenges facing them.

There are three radio stations in Clare: our independent radio station, Clare FM, and two community radio stations, Raidió Corca Baiscinn and Scariff Bay Community Radio, one serving east Clare and the other serving west Clare. These exemplary stations provide a fantastic public service and a familiar background noise to homes, farms, businesses, and car journeys the length and breadth of County Clare.

I recently spoke with Ronan McManamy, the chief executive of Clare FM, and we discussed the various benefits of Clare FM, which was recently crowned the IMRO local radio station of the year, and I hope the Minister of State will join me in warmly congratulating it. Clare FM is listened to by 50% of the people of Clare each week, and thanks to a ring-fenced round of sound and vision scheme funding that colleagues and I across the House advocated for, it will be featuring new programming in the new year on a weekly basis around Clare women in business, minority sports in the county, and the thriving arts scene in the Banner County. It is money well spent, if you ask me.

In our conversation, Mr. McManamy conveyed to me that independent broadcasters feel their commercial model has been severely disadvantaged by the free-for-all enjoyed by digital operators, both from a content and advertising perspective. Digital now commands over half of the advertising spend in Ireland, and this is greatly assisted by them operating well outside of the tight regulation under which FM stations operate. The bailout provided to RTÉ and the reduction in VAT for newspapers has unbalanced the scale. While I welcome the funding recently announced in this House for coverage of local and European elections, Clare FM and IBI are concerned that the schemes will not be delivered in time for the elections and this looming crisis must be sorted as a matter of priority.

I also recently met with Mairéad O’Higgins Finnegan, the manager of Raidió Corca Baiscinn and treasurer of the community radio association of Ireland recently. This station, which is the only fully licensed community radio station in County Clare, employs five full-time CSP staff, one part-time CE, one part-time Tús and one part-time adult learner. It is partly funded for the CSP by Pobal, but this does not cover all of the revenue portion. It has a large base of volunteers who, thanks to this station, can have their voices heard on air. It relies heavily on fundraising to keep the doors open. In the interest of transparency, I will declare that my parliamentary assistant, Mike Taylor, sits on its board of directors.

Stations like RCB and Scariff Bay Community Radio, which has a 100-day licence, are reliant on Pobal funding despite Pobal now saying that community radio is non-priority and may be more appropriately supported by other Departments and State agencies. Who will that be? In the last open round of sound and vision scheme funding, slightly over 0.17% of the total fund was approved for community radio. Only one community radio station was successful in its application. Without proper support and investment, ring-fenced funding and a liveable wage, these assets in our rural communities will cease to provide this fantastic community service. We need a grant for operational funding under the CSP scheme to allow stations like RCB to not just tread water but keep their heads above water, their lights on, and the radio waves well represented in west Clare.

A great way of tackling misinformation is by ensuring and safeguarding trust in State services, public bodies and, in particular, policy. That is a huge issue these days, and if the Government wants to demonstrate that it is truly serious about addressing the harms of misinformation, I would suggest that is a good place to start. It must be understood that we have been facing a housing crisis without the adequate response, a cost-of-living crisis, and climate action and change without a just transition, to name but a few. I always say that this House is not the real world, so the Government must look at the possibility that it might make the mistake of seeing these points as a bash from the Opposition. There are real people who feel they have been forgotten about and who have been on the receiving end of considerable harm. If they do not see actions that will benefit them and bring about better situations for them, then it directly affects trust.

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