James Geoghegan (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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211. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment if he will consider a community media fund (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [54526/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Community media plays an invaluable role in the promotion of community engagement, inclusion and social cohesion and contributes to a greater level of representation of citizens and a plurality of voices in our media sector. 2026 will see more funding available to the community media sector than ever before, through a suite of schemes available under the Media Fund.

In Budget 2026, I secured €1m in funding to develop a dedicated Community Media Scheme which will aim to provide an effective form of support for the sector, offering funding on a contestable basis. This has been strongly welcomed by the sector.

The scheme will be developed by Coimisiún na Meán, who are currently progressing a body of research into current community media supports and to identify ways in which this support can be strengthened. This research will inform the scheme design and future policy decisions.

This will be in addition to existing platform-neutral supports currently available for the wider media sector, all of which community media organisations are eligible to apply for. The research will also look at ways to ensure community media are well positioned to access schemes on a more even playing field with larger media counterparts.

The community media sector receives ongoing support through the Sound and Vision Scheme, which provides dedicated funding rounds for the sector. A major innovation in the current scheme has been the establishment of Social Benefit rounds specifically for community broadcasters, the latest of which provided more than €740,000 to community media organisations.

In 2024, community media received a total of €1.13m from Sound and Vision. So far in 2025, community media has received €1.12m.

The Local Democracy and Courts Reporting Schemes provided €5.7m to the media sector earlier this year and an additional €6m was made available in August for the second funding rounds of these schemes, which closed for applications in September. In Budget 2026, I secured a further €6m to ensure the continuation of these schemes next year.

Also launched by Coimisiún na Meán recently were the News Reporting Scheme and the Digital Transformation Scheme, which will provide a further €4m in open and contestable funding to the media sector and for which community media are eligible to apply.

The News Reporting Scheme provides another avenue of support for the provision of public interest journalism, funding the production of content that is either under-provided for or at risk of insufficient provision. The Digital Transformation Scheme will aim to incentivise investment in technology and services by public service content providers, accelerating the development of sustainable business models in the sector. It will also aim to provide support for the appropriate training and up-skilling of existing staff within the sector, ensuring the requisite skills are in place for an inclusive, diverse and thriving media sector. I have secured an increase of €1m for each of these schemes in Budget 2026, to ensure a continuation of funding supports throughout next year.

As Minister, I understand the important role that community media plays in our society. A dedicated Community Media Scheme, along with an increase in funding for existing supports for the media sector will provide essential support for community media organisations nationwide.