Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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409. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht to detail the funding provided to the sound and vision scheme in 2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42969/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The Broadcasting Act 2009 made provision for the establishment of the Broadcasting Fund, to be managed and controlled by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland, now Coimisiún na Meán, and funded primarily from 7% of net TV licence fee receipts.

The Act also provided for the establishment of schemes, the objectives of which include the development programmes based on Irish culture, heritage and experience, programmes in the Irish language, programmes which represent the diversity of Irish culture and heritage, or to support an integrated approach to the archiving of programme material within the broadcasting sector.

At present the Fund supports two schemes, the Sound and Vision Scheme and the Archiving Scheme. Sound and Vision enables increased availability of high quality television and radio programmes for Irish audiences, while the Archiving Scheme supports the development of an archiving culture and contributes to the preservation of Ireland’s broadcasting heritage.

The Broadcasting Act 2009 also provides that the Minister may allocate additional Exchequer funding to the Fund. 2020 was the first year that additional Exchequer funding was allocated, which I provided in recognition of the impact of COVID-19 on the sector. Since then increased Exchequer investment has enabled funding rounds targeted at programmes in areas such as Climate Change and Climate Action, Irish language programmes, the live music sector, and dedicated funding for the commercial radio sector.

The table below details both TV licence receipts and Exchequer funding paid to the Broadcasting Fund since 2022.

With regard to 2024, the total provision in the Revised Estimates for my Department in respect of the Sound and Vision and Archiving Schemes is €16.885m. The actual amount that will be available is subject to the total TV licence revenues generated this year and therefore will not be known until year-end.

As the total provision for 2025 will be based on TV licence sales for the year, I am unable to provide an accurate figure for 2025. However, as part of Budget 2025, I have secured a further €6 million in Exchequer funding for the Sound and Vision scheme, which will support the provision of news and current affairs content by independent commercial broadcasters. Work on the design of this scheme by Coimisiún na Meán will begin shortly and will be subject to State Aid approval.