I move: That Dáil Éireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport entitled "Report on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the revised General Scheme of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill", copies of which were laid before Dáil Éireann on 17th September, 2025. I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss in the Dáil the report on pre-legislative scrutiny of the revised general scheme of the broadcasting (amendment) Bill, which was published in September of last year. The revised Bill was referred to the Joint Committee on Arts, Media, Culture, Communications and Sport by the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport, Deputy Patrick O’Donovan, at the committee's first meeting, on 14 May 2025. This report represents an opportunity for a once-in-a-generation step-change to the governance and support model of public service media in Ireland. The far-reaching significance of the report is reflected in the volume of work that has informed the committee and the volume of recommendations made by the committee. Some of the major themes and provisions of the Bill addressed in the committee's recommendations include: the reform of corporate governance and performance measurement of public service media providers; meeting the needs of under-serviced audiences; a transition to multi-annual funding settlements; the new platform-neutral media fund; protection of employment standards; the role of public service media in investing in independent media; and the need for strong protections relating to copyright and intellectual property. The committee engaged with 19 key stakeholders at four pre-legislative scrutiny meetings in public session. Written submissions were received from these stakeholders and a further nine stakeholders to assist the committee with its pre-legislative scrutiny. The stakeholders were invaluable in the scrutiny of this Bill and I will provide an overview of what was brought to light following their engagement. The first was the inclusion of geography as a key criterion for supporting under-served audiences. Trusted media organisations must be sustained to guarantee meeting the needs of under-served regions and calls for the provision of schemes supporting local publishers, a fair share of State advertising, fair remuneration from big tech platforms for use of news content, and defamation reform. There is a need for inclusion of human resources, trade union affairs and governance and risk as relevant areas of expertise on boards, noting that the tradition of appointing persons with industrial relations backgrounds has been diminished. RTÉ welcomed the transition to multi-annual funding, which it states has enabled it to plan its transformation and give clarity to independent producers. Multi-annual funding gives certainty to public service broadcasters and independent production companies on the funding likely to be available, allowing for investment and development. There are long-standing concerns about the regulatory gap relating to online forms of content. The proposal to extend Coimisiún na Meán regulations to all forms of content published by broadcasters was welcomed as it will prevent duplication and the risk of diverging regulatory decisions. Many stakeholders noted the benefits of increased spending on independent commissions and that, accounting for inflation, RTÉ investment in the independent sector is lower than in 2008. Screen Ireland noted that creating further opportunities for the independent sector will increase the sustainability of Ireland's screen sector. The engagement allowed stakeholders to bring a number of important issues to the attention of the committee. These included the Community Television Association, CTA, and Community Radio Ireland, CRAOL. They stated concerns about the lack of specific recognition afforded to the community media sector in the revised general scheme. CTA and CRAOL stated that community media has a distinct legal status and that references to local and regional media in the Bill may be understood in a way that excludes community media from supports. The National Union of Journalists, NUJ, raised a further issue of terminology, stating a preference for the term "private commercial sector" rather than "independent sector". NUJ stated that the term "independent sector" implies that in-house content produced by RTÉ and TG4 is not independent. Screen Producers Ireland noted the definitions applied in determining what constitutes an independent production company for funding purposes can have a significant impact on the ecosystem of the sector and called for any debate on definitions to take place with careful considerations of the current national and European debates on this issue. The DCU Institute for Media, Democracy and Society questioned the definition of "public service user generated content". It welcomed the intent to permit public funding of content intended for online distribution but noted that the popular understanding of the term "user generated" may imply that funding could be afforded to non-professionals working outside of the appropriate regulatory structures. Dr. Harry Browne stated that the definition of "public service content provider" is more limited than it appears as many producers of content are not regulated by Coimisiún na Meán or subject to a self-regulatory mechanism such as the Press Council of Ireland. He proposed that amending this restriction would be in keeping with the spirit of pluralism. The written submissions and evidence presented to the committee resulted in a number of recommendations. I will briefly outline a number for the information of the House. Our report calls for a recognition of community media. This recommendation is born out of community engagement with CRAOL and CTA, which highlighted concerns to the committee regarding the lack of specific recognition afforded to the community media sector and stated references to local and regional media in the Bill will be understood in a way that excludes community media from supports. We agree that this needs to be addressed in recognition of the immense service community media provides in our communities throughout the State. The committee recommends that Coimisiún na Meán be empowered to establish a dedicated media funds scheme to support existing public interest current affairs content at risk of becoming commercially unsustainable and that such a scheme should be assessed for state aid compliance on a stand-alone basis. Stakeholders expressed much concern and, indeed, confusion regarding the interpretation and implication of additionality rules. The committee believes ways must be examined to support public interest current affairs content that may be at risk. Furthermore, our report calls for the introduction of a content levy in line with the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, which will be used to assist in the funding of the production of Irish content. This issue deserves serious consideration. It builds on a recommendation made by our predecessor committee, which also called for the expedition of such a levy being introduced. It was a common call from the wide-ranging stakeholders with whom we engaged. The committee recommended that the protection and promotion of sustainable employment and the principle of equal pay for equal work should be included as a duty with the boards RTÉ and TG4. The committee also recommended that the Bill require RTÉ and TG4 to publish the objective criteria it uses to determine employment status and for using contracts of service and to ensure these criteria abide by the Karshan decision of the Supreme Court and the code of practice. The committee requested that the Minister, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, considers the content of the report before the Bill commences the formal legislative process. The committee can speak with one voice in welcoming many of the broad principles of the Bill and share the commitment of the Minister to enhancing trust and support of our public service media. We present these recommendations in the hope that our report will be a constructive contribution to the drafting of the Bill and the reform of public service media in Ireland. I welcome that colleagues across government and opposition have come together to recognise that the geoblocking of audiences, exclusion from competitions and erasure from maps of the Six Counties by RTÉ needs to be addressed. This recommendation was one of a number of Sinn Féin proposals accepted on a cross-party basis at committee and demonstrates a unity of purpose among Deputies and Senators to make sure national broadcasters serves the whole of the nation. The committee also agreed with a Sinn Féin proposal that regional public meetings be held across Ireland, including in the Six Counties, as part of nationwide consultations by the audience councils of RTÉ and TG4 to ensure the input of audiences when providing feedback. I encourage the Minister to heed the call from Government colleagues to implement these proposals to end geoblocking and include audiences from across the island when he drafts the final Bill.

Sentiment score: 0.30

I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, for being here this evening, for his contribution and for his acknowledgement of the work of the committee over an extensive period in recent months. I also thank the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, for acknowledging that work. Given the controversies around RTÉ and the fact that it is back in the headlines this week, I very much welcome the decision that it will finally come under the remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General. It is just a shame that the Government voted down Sinn Féin's Broadcasting (Oversight of RTÉ Accounts) (Amendment) Bill only last year. We could have moved on this prior to this latest controversy in the headlines. Regarding the response to the committee's report, given that the committee members are not here this afternoon, I am not going to speak for them. However, it should be noted that the Minister has acted on only 68 of the 85 recommendations of the committee. That leaves 20% of them not included in the Bill, which I believe we will debate on Second Stage next Thursday. Some of them are relevant to different sectors, including employment, tax, social insurance and copyright law, as outlined by the Minister of State. I understand that, but my understanding is that it has been decided not to accept ten of the recommendations. I am sure committee members will want to make their own contributions on this on Second Stage. I will not hold everybody up too late. Suffice it to say it is disappointing that geo-blocking was not mentioned in either the opening contribution or closing comments of the Minister of State. I understand they are not coming directly from the Minister of State himself but I sincerely hope that is not a reflection of the Government's intent with regard to this Bill. If it is, Deputy Ó Snodaigh and I have introduced the Broadcasting (All Ireland Service) (Amendment) Bill at First Stage and will have to pursue that if this is not included in the Bill next week. I put that on the record. I thank the Minister of State for his time. I know it is a busy week and there are other things going on. I appreciate his contribution.

Sentiment score: 0.10