Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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4. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the scope for increasing the funding for recommendations made within the Report of the Future of Media Commission; and when funding from these proposals will be rolled out to media organisations nationwide, given that the local and European elections and the first directly-elected mayor election in Limerick will take place at the start of June 2024.. [17014/24]

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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My question relates to the scope for increasing funding for recommendations from the Report of the Future of Media Commission. When will funding be rolled out, given we have future elections on the horizon, not least the local elections and the directly-elected mayoral elections coming up in the June this year?

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The wider media sector in Ireland, which is a vital element of our democracy and society as a whole, is undergoing fundamental change. This is in part due to the increased digitalisation of news and media content generally and the associated decline in advertising revenue. For this reason, the Future of Media Commission was established to examine the challenges faced by the media sector and the impact on the provision of public service content.

The report made a number of recommendations to counter these challenges, including 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. The Commission recommended €30 million be provided. That included the funding already made available through the existing broadcasting fund, which amounts to an average of €15 million per annum from television licence receipts and which supports the Sound and Vision scheme. Since the formation of this Government, a further €28.4 million in Exchequer funding has been provided to Sound and Vision, enabling increased investment in public service content for television and radio.

With regard to the wider media fund, I secured €6 million in budget 2024 for new local democracy and courts reporting schemes. These are being prioritised for implementation by Coimisiún na Meán. The schemes will support the employment or engagement by media service providers of journalists for the production of public interest journalism.

While not directly linked to the upcoming elections, the overall purpose of the local democracy reporting scheme is to support local democracy reporting on a general basis through the provision of comprehensive coverage of the proceedings of local authorities and associated committees.

A process of engagement with the European Commission regarding state aid has concluded positively and it has been agreed that the schemes can be implemented without prior state aid clearance. In terms of next steps, it is now for Coimisiún na Mean to implement the schemes. A public consultation on the detailed design of the schemes opened on 4 April and will close on 2 May 2024. Once the schemes are finalised, Coimisiún na Mean will run a call for applications for both schemes. Further details on the timelines for the roll-out of the schemes will be made available by Coimisiún na Mean in due course.

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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The Future of Media Commission report was a welcome step in safeguarding the public interest in journalism and media in Ireland. We have never probably had a more important time to promote and fund quality journalism, especially with the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation across the Internet. It is needed to address the severe threats that we are seeing from these multiple angles.

I would advise the Minister - I am sure she knows - we are seeing experienced and passionate journalists moving from their roles as public watchdogs into PR and communication roles, primarily because journalism is no longer financially able to sustain many. The young journalists are leaving college and starting work in local newspapers only to become quickly disillusioned by the poor salaries on offer and the lack of quality job advancement.

It is no wonder that our news agencies are under threat. When we look at the likes of Facebook, Instagram, X and TikTok, we know the risks of free content. They come with zero guarantees and require a hefty dose of scepticism. I would say Twitter, in particular, has become the Wild West in local media.

It is important that we get funding into our media as quickly as possible so that we have something tangible that there is integrity attached to.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I agree with the Deputy. As I said, we are in that final public consultation that closes in early May.

At least we got the state aid approval. There are certain processes that have to be gone through, but Coimisiún na Mean has secured that. Television, radio, print, online and community media will all be eligible to apply for the funding, subject to meeting the eligibility criteria set out by Coimisiún na Mean. Applications will be open to all eligible providers with no specific allocation or ring-fencing for different parts of the media sector, so it will be as fair and balanced as possible. It is needed, especially for local print and radio, which are absolutely essential. As the Deputy appreciates, we need to get our journalists back into the courts and reporting on local democracy. For those who have grown up in rural Ireland, it is what you look for in the newspaper and local radio is what you listen to when you wake in the morning. I am glad to have been in a position to have provided that €6 million in the budget. I encourage the Deputy to participate in the public consultation.

Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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My local radio station, WLR FM, is offering media training for five voluntary groups across Waterford in the coming weeks. WLR FM has been running a broadcasting course for up-and-coming journalists in Waterford for the past 25 years or so. It is the type of initiative we need to see more funding for. Given that we have elections on the horizon, we need to look at the scope for increased funding. Some months ago, the then Taoiseach, Deputy Varadkar, said the €6 million being provided for courts and public service reporting was going to be made available. I am rather disappointed the money has still not been provided. As the Minister knows, the journalism sector received Government support in the form of a VAT cut but the radio sector has been waiting for some time to see this public money. I ask her to look at that and whether there is scope for increasing that funding.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Once the consultation in concluded in May, my Department and Coimisiún na Mean will work to get the schemes operational and to the market as early as possible. Since taking office in 2020, I have secured an additional €28.4 million in Exchequer funding for Sound and Vision. The Deputy is probably aware that WLR FM received almost €300,000 in the period 2020 to 2023 to support a range of different programming. This included programming celebrating the 30th anniversary of Fleadh Mór Tramore, "Waterford in Action - A Climate Discussion" and "Gaeilge sa Ghalltacht", a series focused on the Irish language in Waterford and the lives of those who speak it. Last week, funding of €7.9 million for 27 television and 38 radio projects was announced, as well as €706,000 to support community broadcasters. This included €1 million of the additional Exchequer funding provided to Coimisiún na Mean. An coimisiún has also recently opened a further round for applications. Again, additional Exchequer funding has been provided. I intend to allocate €7.4 million to this next round, including €2 million provided by the Government. I encourage all producers and broadcasters to consider submitting applications.