James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail)
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8. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if her Department has considered giving further support for community, local and regional radio stations in Ireland, including the broadcasting levy; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [24323/24]

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy O'Connor. Has the Minister's Department given any consideration to further supporting community, local and regional radio stations in Ireland, including the broadcasting levy?

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Radio continues to play a key role in our society, as evidenced by the latest JNLR report showing 80% of adults in Ireland tuning in daily. Radio news is a vital and trusted source of information for the public, particularly for local and regional services. Given the importance of the radio sector, at my request Coimisiún na Meán have prepared a report into the economic viability of the commercial radio sector. I welcome the insights which the report provides into the revenues, costs, and profits in the sector over the past number of years, and the challenges and opportunities facing the sector which it identifies, in particular regarding independent local radio stations. Coimisiún na Meán published the report on 3 May 2024 and it is now for an coimisiún to consider how the findings of the report can be incorporated into its approach.

With regard to any possible action regarding the levy payable to Coimisiún na Meán by radio stations in respect of meeting the costs of regulation, this is purely a matter for an coimisiún and given its statutory independence, I have no role in respect of the levy. I understand that an coimisiún, given its sectoral development role, is acutely aware of the issues which the sector is facing.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Future of Media Commission was established to examine the challenges faced by the media sector and the impact on the provision of public service content. The report made a number of recommendations to counter these challenges, including the establishment of a new media fund to provide support for the provision of public service content by the wider media sector at local, regional and national levels on a platform-neutral basis. The commission recommended €30 million be provided. That included the funding made available through the existing broadcasting fund, which amounts to an average of €15 million per annum from TV licence receipts and which supports the Sound and Vision scheme. Since the formation of this Government a further €28.4 million in Exchequer funding has been provided to the scheme, enabling increased investment in public service content for television and radio.

With regard to the wider media fund, I secured €6 million in budget 2024 for new local democracy and courts reporting schemes. These are being prioritised for implementation by Coimisiún na Meán this year. Further details on the timelines for the roll-out of the schemes will be made available by the commission in due course.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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As the Minister has rightly said, 80% of people get their news information from local radio stations. That is worth bearing in mind. I assume Deputy O'Connor was referring to the likes of Radio Youghal. I would refer to Cork City Community Radio and CUH FM Hospital Radio, not to mention bigger broadcasters like Cork's 96FM and C103. This type of funding is fundamental for them to continue doing what they do.

In an era of misinformation, disinformation and people questioning their news sources, it is pivotal that we continue to support this sector.

I have one question for the Minister concerning the Sound and Vision grants. Has the Department done any analysis of the reliance of local radio stations on these grants? Without these grants, would the viability of some local stations be called into question? Has any analysis been done on that?

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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I also echo the question of funding for local radio stations. In my constituency, local radio is important not only in bringing people the global and national news but also local news. We have stations in Cork such as Red FM, 96 FM, C103 FM, Cork City Community Radio and CUH FM Community Radio that play a vital role. It has been even more vital this year because of what happened with GAAGO. RTÉ and the GAA made the disgraceful decision not to show the first three Cork hurling matches or the Cork-Kerry Munster semi-final football match on free-to-air television. This was a shocking decision. I thank C103 FM, which broadcast these matches olive for the people of Cork.

I know people who gave their lives to the Gaelic Athletic Association, volunteers in communities, who feel betrayed by the decision made by the GAA and RTÉ.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Deputy.

Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein)
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These matches need to be shown on free-to-air television, especially the hurling matches.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Regarding the Sound and Vision scheme, a grant was made in recent weeks to a radio station based in Cork. An allocation of €65,000 was made last November. Some €80,000 went to Cork 96FM and C103 under the commercial radio round, and an award of €31,000 was made this April to Community Radio Youghal under the social benefit round. Coimisiún na Meán operates this scheme and it has all that detail.

On the question posed by Deputy Gould concerning the GAA, the management of broadcasting and commercial rights is a matter for each sports body. A challenge for sports bodies such as the GAA is striking the balance between generating revenue and ensuring there is as wide an audience as possible for the games. All of us, of course, want to see more games being broadcast on free-to-air television, especially those involving our own counties. The nature of how the championship has changed, though, means it is not practical to broadcast all matches.

Pauline Tully (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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It is also important to remember that RTÉ has an obligation to provide a broad range of programmes for the benefit and enjoyment of the entire community.

Pádraig O'Sullivan (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)
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Local and regional radio is the most listened to in the country. While the Sound and Vision scheme is very welcome, community, local and regional radio stations provide a public service. I get what the Minister said and the context, but, at the same time, I urge that whatever consideration might be possible could be given to allow stations to expand their funding into the public service broadcasting sphere.

The television licence funds the Sound and Vision scheme. It accounts for 7% of the television licence receipts. Given the difficulties surrounding the collection and enforcement of licence fees, has this funding changed? Will that 7% be respected in the future or is it likely to deviate depending on the receipts going forward?

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Absolutely, as I stated earlier, value is derived from the service being provided by local radio stations. I welcome the insights the report provides into the revenue, costs and profits in the sector in recent years. It might be of interest to the Deputy as well that I will meet representatives of the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland, IBI, group tomorrow to discuss the challenges and opportunities in this regard. As I said, I secured €6 million in the budget for the local democracy and court reporting schemes and these are being prioritised for implementation by Coimisiún na Meán. On funding, what really needs to be done is we must make a decision on putting in place a sustainable model that will give security to all providers of public service content. This is what is of paramount importance right now.