James Lawless (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)
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132. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the building up of regulatory capacity, structures and expertise ahead of the planned establishment of the media commission; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [55125/21]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The establishment of the Media Commission and the appointment of Commissioners, including an Online Safety Commissioner, is a priority for the Government.  As the Media Commission cannot be formally established until the Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill is enacted, it is intended to undertake preparatory work to ensure the Commission hits the ground running on establishment. To this end, I secured €5.5m in Budget 2022 to facilitate the establishment of the Commission.  Through the provision of this funding, we as a Government are demonstrating our commitment to the timely establishment of the Commission.

On establishment, the Media Commission will be required to carry out a range of tasks in order to commence the day to day operations and administration of the organisation including the matters related to the absorption of the BAI and to develop regulatory codes and working relationships required in order to execute the functions assigned under the legislation. In particular, it is envisaged that the development of regulatory codes and the designation of services for the online safety aspect of the legislation will result in a significant workload, by virtue of the complexity involved and the need to carry out extensive stakeholder and industry consultation.

Considering the scale and complexity of the entitles to be regulated under the online safety strand,  I envisage that staff with significant legal, regulatory, financial, and social media experience will be required to ensure that the Media Commission has the capacity to develop and implement appropriate regulatory measures to fulfil the objectives and functions set out in legislation.  I am of the view that it is imperative that the capacity building process must begin at the earliest possible stage.  

The Online Safety and Media Regulation Bill also provides that the staff of the BAI will transfer to the Commission on their existing terms and conditions and that current broadcasting regulation will continue in force.   The Department is working closely with the BAI to ensure an orderly transition to the new Media Commission.