Alan Kelly (Tipperary, Labour)
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22. To ask the Taoiseach when the Commission on the Future of Irish Public Service Broadcasting is expected to report. [27514/20]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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In December 2019 the Government agreed the terms of reference for the Commission on the Future of Irish Public Service Broadcasting to be established by the Department of the Taoiseach. The former President of Dublin City University, Professor Brian Mac Craith was appointed as Chair of the Commission.

The Programme for Government has expanded the remit of the Public Service Broadcasting Commission to become a Future of Media Commission to consider the future of print, broadcast, and online media in a platform agnostic fashion. The terms of reference have been amended in light of this expanded remit.

Government approved the terms of reference and membership of the Future of Media Commission on Tuesday 29 September.

The Commission is tasked with:

- proposing how public service broadcasting aims should be delivered in Ireland over the next ten years;

- how this should contribute to supporting Ireland’s cultural and creative sectors;

- how this work can be funded in a way that is sustainable, gives greater security of funding, ensures independent editorial oversight and delivers value for money to the public;

- making recommendations on RTÉ’s role, financing and structure within this framework;

- how this is overseen and regulated, having regard to our EU obligations including the requirements of the revised Audio-visual Media Services Directive.

The members of the Commission have been selected to capture a range of expertise in the areas of public service communications and are as follows:

- Chair of the Commission, Professor Brian Mac Craith, former President of Dublin City University

- Sinead Burke, writer and academic active in social media, and member of the Council of State

- Alan Rusbridger, Chair of the Steering Committee of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford, and former Editor-in-Chief of Guardian News and Media

- Lynette Fay, freelance broadcaster with an academic background in applied communications (Gaeilge)

- Nuala O’Connor, co-founder of South Wind Blows, writer and documentary filmmaker in the areas of music and the Arts

- Gillian Doyle, Professor of Media Economics, University of Glasgow

- Mark Little, CEO and co-Founder of Kinzen. Founder of social news agency, Storyful

- Stephen McNamara, Director of Communications, Irish Rugby Football Union

- Dr Finola Doyle-O’Neill, Broadcast Historian, University College Cork

Two further proposed members have agreed to serve, subject to approval by their employers, and their names will be announced once this is obtained.

It is expected that the Commission will engage in wide-ranging consultation with all relevant stakeholders and sectors to ensure that all relevant perspectives are considered in its work.

The Commission is to report within nine months on the necessary measures that need to be taken to ensure that there is a vibrant, independent and sustainable public service media for the next generation.

I want to thank the eminent members of the Commission for their commitment to chart the pathway for public service broadcasting and media, in particular Professor Brian Mac Craith who has been an innovator in education and is a pre-eminent intellectual in Irish public life. I look forward to receiving their recommendations in due course.