Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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78. To ask the Minister for Culture, Culture, Communications and Sport the plans to assist Irish journalism by providing a ring fenced funding stream for public-interest journalism. [3330/26]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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Public interest journalism and, more broadly, the provision of trustworthy, transparent and high-quality public service content is essential to a thriving and diverse media landscape and to the health of our democracy.

In the past two years, a suite of schemes, funded by my Department and operated by Coimisiún na Meán, have been established to provide support for our media sector at a local, regional and national level. A common objective of these Schemes is to promote a sustainable and trusted media which is reflective of contemporary Irish society and which offers a plurality of voices to our national discourse on matters of public interest.

The Local Democracy Reporting Scheme provides funding support for the provision of comprehensive coverage of the proceedings of local authorities. The Scheme aims to ensure that local media contains quality reporting on public institutions and authorities, where issues of importance to citizens are considered.

The Courts Reporting Scheme aims to enhance the role of media service providers in reporting on public interest matters by funding comprehensive, professional and publicly accessible reports of court proceedings at a local and regional level.

€5.7m in total funding was awarded through these Schemes in early 2025 for the media sector, the vast majority of which was awarded to local print media. The establishment of these funding schemes marked the first time in the State's history that direct financial support has been made available to the print sector. A second funding round was announced in August 2025, making a further €6m available to the sector, with funding decisions to be announced by Coimisiún na Meán in due course.

The Digital Transformation Scheme and the News Reporting Scheme were each launched by Coimisiún na Meán in the second half of 2025.

The Digital Transformation Scheme is a targeted scheme aiming to incentivise investment in technology and services by public service content providers, accelerating the development of sustainable business models in the sector. It also aims to provide support for the appropriate training and up-skilling of existing staff within the sector. The Scheme will provide a further €3m to the wider media sector on a platform neutral basis.

The News Reporting Scheme will provide support for public interest journalism, focusing on news matters that are under-provided for or at risk of being under-reported. This Scheme includes €1m in open and contestable funding and a ring-fenced €3m for the commercial radio sector to support the production of news coverage that is independent, trustworthy and serves the public interest.

Coimisiún na Meán also launched a €3m fund to support the provision of news and current affairs content on commercial television in order to enhance media plurality and diversity and increase the availability of high-quality, trusted public service content that informs and educates viewers.

In Budget 2026, funding was secured to continue, and in some cases enhance, the supports available to the wider media sector.

An additional €1m was secured for both the News Reporting Scheme and for the Digital Transformation Scheme, bringing the totals available to €5m and €4m respectively.

Funding for the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme, the Courts Reporting Scheme and the scheme to support news and current affairs on commercial television was maintained to ensure the continuation of essential support.

The suite of schemes now available to the media sector provides essential support for public interest journalism and for the provision of public service content in general. As Minister, I understand the challenges faced by the media sector in the context of an increasingly digital and globalised media landscape and the importance of providing essential funding support to ensure the vitality, sustainability and diversity of our media.