Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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242. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if she will work with her officials and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland in order to provide for additional full radio time FM radio licences to stations that are focused on delivering modern Irish music and opportunity radio talent and production teams. [5625/22]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The licensing of radio stations is an operational matter for the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland under Part 6 of the Broadcasting Act 2009. The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland is independent in the exercise of its functions under section 24 of the Broadcasting Act 2009. Accordingly, in my role as Minister, I have no statutory function in relation to this matter.

However, in bringing together a range of support measures to support the arts, culture and live entertainment sectors, I was conscious of the need to ensure that some form of live performance could continue, and could be enjoyed by as many as possible. To that end I provided funding of €1.4m to BAI’s Sound and Vision Scheme in 2021, as part of a suite of measures.