Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 18 June 2024
183. Deputy Carol Nolan asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media to provide a breakdown of the fines issued against her Department by the Court of Justice of the European Union for the period 2010 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26143/24]
View answerMy Department in its current configuration was established in September 2020.
I am advised by my officials that, in the period since then, fines were only issued against my Department by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in relation to the Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD).
On 29 February 2024, the CJEU imposed a lump sum fine of €2.5 million against Ireland for failure to notify the full implementation of the revised AVMSD into Irish law, as well as daily penalty payments of €10,000 until the date of transposition.
These fines are significantly lower than the maximum levels that were open to the Court to impose. Part of the reason for this, is that the revised AVMSD was partially transposed through the commencement of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act and formal establishment of Coimisiún na Meán in March 2023. Full implementation will be completed when An Coimisiún adopts and applies the first online safety code and updated certain media service codes later this year and Ireland can notify the European Commission of full transposition, bringing infringement proceedings to an end.
