Cormac Devlin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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1371. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the plans to expand supports for local and independent media, including changes to the sound and vision scheme, local democracy reporting, and funding for local radio; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43395/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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As Minister, I understand the value of local and independent media, the role they play in the provision of essential public service content and the importance of protecting and supporting our local and regional independent media in order to sustain the continued provision of independent, high-quality journalism, which plays an indispensable role in providing objective, trustworthy and accurate news coverage to the public.

The Programme for Government recognises and acknowledges this and sets out our commitment to a strong, independent media sector that provides essential public service broadcasting, supports local journalism, and upholds press freedom.

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.

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. €5.7m was awarded in February 2025 to predominantly local and regional news media through the pilot Local Democracy and Courts Reporting Schemes.

Coimisiún na Meán will conduct a review which will inform the design process of future iterations of the schemes and the views of stakeholders will be sought as a key aspect of this process, ensuring that the schemes are accessible and impactful as supports for the sector.

A further €10m was allocated in Budget 2025 to allow for the continuation of these journalism schemes and for the development of two further schemes, the Digital Transformation and News Reporting Schemes.

Following public consultation, the Digital Transformation Scheme will have regard to the varying needs of the sector, who will be invited to put forward costed proposals for projects they deem to be important for the viability and the development of their organisations. This will support investment in digital transformation measures, assisting media organisations in the continued provision of public service content which serves to inform the public, to maintain integrity of information and to preserve trust.?

The News Reporting Scheme will support the continued production of news by our local and regional media, who are among the most trusted sources of information in the national media landscape. Both schemes will be launched this year by Coimisiún na Meán.

In addition, €6m was allocated to support the provision of news and current affairs content on commercial radio and television. This is aligned with the Programme for Government commitment to support the provision of objective news and current affairs content.

These supports are in addition to the Sound and Vision Scheme which provided over €22.7m in funding last year and has so far in 2025 provided over €7.8m in funding to the production of audiovisual works in support of over 100 projects. Coimisiún na Meán also intend to introduce an updated Sound and Vision Scheme to align with the enactment of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill and will be engaging with stakeholders to inform the design of that scheme in due course.

Independent and local media, including local radio, 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.

My Department and Coimisiún na Meán will continue to work closely together to ensure that necessary supports are available for our media sector, who play an invaluable role in community engagement, cohesion and the promotion of social inclusion across the country and who provide a crucial public service in the delivery of trusted information to our citizens.