Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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1101. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht if he plans to meet with the regional radio stations of Ireland. [19627/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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As Minister, I am fully committed to examining long-term supports to our local and regional media, including the radio sector, to support them in delivering vital public service content for our democracy and society and, as such, my officials and I will continue to engage with the sector on an ongoing basis. I met with representatives of Independent Broadcasters of Ireland on 2nd April 2025 to discuss the challenges facing the sector.

The independent radio sector plays an invaluable role in community engagement, cohesion, and in the promotion of social inclusion in communities across the State. I strongly believe that the provision of public interest journalism and public service content is not exclusive to our public service media, but that our independent, local, regional and community media play a crucial role as well. The Programme for Government acknowledges that local and national independent broadcasters perform a vital public service and deserve to have this recognised.

This has been evident from the reporting on, for example, extreme weather events earlier this year when important public information was provided to those in affected areas by our local media and in particular by our independent radio stations.

€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 Scheme and the News Reporting Scheme.

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 stakeholder consultation to ensure that the views of the wider media sector, including independent radio stations, are taken into account in the development of the new measures.

The aforementioned measures are in addition to the Sound and Vision Scheme operated by Coimisiún na Meán, with almost €1.7m of funding under this scheme going to commercial radio in 2024.

In line with the relevant Programme for Government commitments, Coimisiún na Meán will continue to monitor the impact of all funding schemes, and update them as appropriate, taking into account the views of the radio sector, in order to ensure they are applicable and accessible to the sector and continue to deliver on intended objectives.