Michael Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent)
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717.To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if a fund can be created to support local radio stations (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter.[33867/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I am conscious that provision of high quality public service media content is not just the preserve of our public service media bodies, RTÉ and TG4, but that commercial broadcasters, such as local radio, and other media platforms, like local newspapers, play an important role in providing valuable public service content to the Irish public.

The Future of Media Commission (FOMC), in examining the challenges faced by the media sector and consequent impact on the provision of public service content, made a number of recommendations to counter these challenges and to support the provision of public service content.

One recommendation made by the Future of Media Commission was for a new Media Fund to provide support for the provision of public service content by the wider media and journalism sector at local, regional and national levels. The FOMC also recommended that new schemes under this Fund should be put in place on a platform neutral basis, i.e. that they should be open to all media including audiovisual, radio, digital and newspapers.

In Budget 2024, I secured €6m for two pilot schemes under this Fund, the Local Democracy Scheme and the Courts Reporting Scheme. The Schemes opened for applications in July and will close this month. As the schemes are being administered by Coimisiún na Meán on a platform neutral basis, commercial radio are fully eligible to apply for funding.

I am acutely aware of and understand the concerns raised by IBI in relation to the need to support the provision of existing news and current affairs content. However, these schemes were subject to State Aid review by the European Commission and had the funding model been targeted at supporting the existing cost base of the sector, this clearance would have proven far more difficult.

I have secured €10m in funding for 2025, in part, to allow the addition of a Digital Transformation Scheme and a Media Access and Training Scheme to this Fund. My Department will also be progressing the development of a News Reporting Scheme. This funding will also allow the continuation of these Schemes and to bring forward additional Schemes recommended by the Future of Media Commission. The broad policy for these Schemes is being developed by my Department at present and stakeholder feedback, including the IBI’s views, will be taken into account as part of the design process. I have asked my officials to keep me updated on developments in this regard.

In line with another of the FOMC's recommendations, it is also the intention to amend the Broadcasting Act to allow news and current affairs to be eligible for funding under the Sound & Vision scheme which is administered by Coimisiún na Meán and funded by the licence fee and Exchequer funding. Work is currently underway in this regard. This will provide another important avenue for funding in respect of news and current affairs to the commercial radio sector.

These new provisions are in addition to supports already provided to the independent media sector:

• In 2023, €16.7m in funding was awarded to applicants of the Sound and Vision scheme, providing support to a range of independent producers, commercial radio and community broadcasters. This included an additional €6m of Exchequer funding which I secured, enabling the expansion of the funding rounds and a dedicated €2.4m independent commercial radio round.
• The radio sector also received significant funding from other Sound and Vision rounds announced in 2023. 35 projects received a total of €543,000 from announcements made last August, while another 67 radio projects received €636,000 from Round 47 which was announced in April 2023.
• In April 2024, Coimisiún na Meán announced the allocation of €8.6m of Sound and Vision funding for broadcasters and independent producers. Round 51 provided over €1.1m for 38 radio projects and Round 52 allocated over €700k to the community radio sector.

I am fully committed to examining longer-term supports to commercial radio that reflect the unique needs and characteristics of the sector. Given the importance of the sector, and having regard to the issues raised by IBI, I will continue to engage with my officials on the most appropriate mechanism to support the radio sector in delivering vital public service content for our democracy and society.