Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)
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544. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht his views on funding for public service broadcasting; his further views on whether independent broadcasters should be permitted to apply for public funding; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2953/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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The distinct role of public service broadcasting is recognised in Protocol No. 29 of the Treaty on the Function of the European Union (‘the Amsterdam Protocol’), which sets out the unique role of publicly owned and funded broadcasters in meeting the democratic, social and cultural needs of society. It provides the ultimate legal basis for the funding of our public service broadcasters, RTÉ and TG4.

As the Deputy will be aware, last July a multi-annual public funding arrangement, through a combination of TV licence receipts and Exchequer support, was agreed in respect of RTÉ. A key aspect of this decision was the provision of certainty of funding which would enable the organisation to plan on a multi-annual basis for the delivery of its new Strategy and for ongoing organisational reform. A total of €225m in public funding is to be provided to RTÉ this year. TG4, who continue to supported with direct Exchequer allocations, will receive €60m.

Looking to the medium-term, the General Scheme of a Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill published last October will enhance the system of assessing the performance of and funding for RTÉ and TG4. It will do so by giving Coimisiún na Meán greater authority to identify targets, assess performance, and hold RTÉ and TG4 to account for their performance as public service broadcasters. This will underpin the implementation of the Programme for Government commitment to ensure stable, sufficient funding for RTÉ and to continue to support the growth of TG4.

The provision of quality public service content is not just the preserve of public service media bodies. Independent broadcasters, including local radio and newspapers, play a vital role in providing valuable public service content to the Irish public. This contributes to a plurality of voices in the media sector and is crucial to the continued provision of free, independent, high-quality journalism and trustworthy news and current affairs coverage to the public. The Programme for Government acknowledges that local and national independent media perform a vital public service and deserve to have this recognised.

The Future of Media Commission, in examining the challenges faced by the media sector, recommended 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. This was in order to address the long-term economic challenges faced by media in Ireland, which includes a decisive shift in advertising revenues away from traditional media towards the technology giants, compounded in the case of print media by declining circulation revenues.

In line with the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission, the General Scheme of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill contains measures to convert the statutory Broadcasting Fund to a platform-neutral Media Fund. This will fund all schemes prepared by Coimisiún na Meán to support the production, distribution and archiving of public service content by the wider media sector which will be made available free of charge to the general public.

In advance of the establishment of a statutory Media Fund, the Local Democracy and Courts Reporting Schemes were rolled out on an administrative basis in 2024. These Schemes aim to support under-served public-interest journalism, particularly in terms of reporting on local authority meetings and local and regional Courts. This is in addition to supports provided through the Sound and Vision Scheme operated by Coimisiún na Meán, which saw €22.7m allocated to support 210 projects in 2024.

In line with the relevant Programme for Government commitments, Coimisiún na Meán will continue to monitor the impact of the aforementioned schemes, and update them as appropriate, in order to ensure they are accessible to the sector and continue to deliver on intended objectives. €10m was secured in Budget 2025 to ensure to continuation of the Local Democracy and Courts Reporting Schemes and to introduce two new Schemes in 2025, the Digital Transformation and the News Reporting schemes.

A further €6m was secured in Budget 2025 to support news and current affairs reporting by commercial independent broadcasters. This is aligned with the Programme for Government commitment to support the provision of objective news and current affairs content.

As independent regulator for broadcasters, Coimisiún na Meán will lead the design and administration of the supports for news and current affairs on independent broadcasting services. As part of this process, Coimisiún na Meán will conduct a stakeholder consultation to ensure that the views of the independent media sector are taken into account in the development of the new measures.