Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to comment on the important matter of the future of broadcasting and how we will fund it into the future. Senator Terry Leyden is correct that the Minister, Deputy Denis Naughten, has a very wide brief that includes communications which we are discussing, post offices and climate change. It includes everything, except water, but I believe that is on the way to being included.

How we are going to fund the national broadcaster and broadcasting into the future is an important issue and there are options we must consider. There is controversy about how to deal with the licence fee. Technology is changing by the day in many ways. Many of the houses I visit do not have a television. It is not because people are hippies of some type or do not believe in having a television but how they live their lives. Everything is done on an iPad or the phone. We must engage with it and how technology has changed rapidly. One of the key initiatives in which the Minister is involved is the roll-out of broadband. When that happens, the number of electronic tablets used in Ireland will increase dramatically. There will be a huge change in how our society communicates with the outside world in the area of entertainment. It is happening at a rapid rate.

A new level of funding or a new funding model is required to deal with these issues. We might be changing how we will collect the television licence fee, but five or ten years hence will there be a need for such a collection service and will the television licence be a part of Irish society at all? Will we have moved on to electronic means of communication through the hand-held devices we use at present? That is probably what will happen and how we deal with it will be the most important issue. I have a six year old and a seven year old at home and it is iPads for everything. They do not even have to watch the television any more because it is all on their iPads. That is how the next generation is being reared. How we deal with this and how RTE can be funded will be key considerations.

As an entity, RTE has a very good public affairs element and is good in the regions. However, how to sustain it into the future will be a major problem. Unfortunately, the current funding model is broken. RTE is selling land to pay for programming and pay off some of its debt. When one must go to the level of selling property, the model is broken. The big challenge will be how we can fund it in the future. Other Senators may have mentioned pay rises and the salaries some of the major presenters receive. Ireland has a population of 4.5 million people. If they want competition, they can go to the United Kingdom, but there is no internal competition for that amount of money to be spent on presenters. There should be a dramatic cap on pay. Given the size of the population, the amount of money they are receiving is not logical. Major reform and change are required in dealing with that important issue. There is a sense that although this is not London, RTE is paying London prices. Why is that happening? That will be an important element of how RTE reforms itself in order that the general public and politicians can have confidence in what it will do into the future. We need it to be sustainable and an appropriate broadcaster, but we must also deal with its current inappropriate financial position.

Another issue the Minister mentioned was the future direction of local radio services. That is an important part of where the broadcasting industry is going. The important services and stations are the heart and soul of many communities. The Government and the Department must ensure they do what they can to support them. If we cannot keep them going, we will lose part of our culture. Previously, we had radio stations that were unregulated, but these small stations are regulated and provide local news that is closely followed. It is an important part of the service they provide. Local sports news is also an important part of it. Considering what both RTE and local broadcasters provide, the issue is about getting the balance right to ensure we keep all of them going. That will be a big challenge in the next few years.

Broadcasting has always been a changing dynamic but now more than ever. The change we have seen in the past few years will accelerate in the next few years and our policies must move with it. If we do not move with it, the services will become out of date, just as the technology has become out of date.

I wish the Minister well with his brief. He has a great understanding of it but urgent measures are required to ensure we can have a sustainable national broadcaster and local media outlets which are under great pressure and need the Government's help.