Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 December 2025
272. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport the key measures taken to support broadcasting and media during 2025; his priorities for 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [73141/25]
View answerIn 2025, I brought forward a number of legislative and funding measures to support public service media and the provision of public service content by the wider media sector.
In terms of legislation, Government approved the publication of two General Schemes:
• in April 2025, the revised General Scheme of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill; and
• in July 2025, the General Scheme of the Media Regulation Bill.
The General Scheme of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill gives effect to recommendations of the Future of Media Commission, Expert Advisory Committee on Governance and Culture in RTÉ and Article 5 of the EU European Media Freedom Act (EMFA). These reforms aim to enhance accountability, transparency and value-for-money in our public service media providers, RTÉ and TG4, and establish a new statutory framework to support the provision of public service content by the wider sector. The General Scheme will:
• improve the legislative underpinning for the corporate governance of RTÉ and TG4, including by assigning the Comptroller and Auditor General as auditor of RTÉ;
• reform the system under which Coimisiún na Meán assesses the performance of, and recommends funding for, RTÉ and TG4; and
• provide for the conversion of the existing Broadcasting Fund to a platform-neutral statutory Media Fund to be overseen by Coimisiún na Meán to provide funding for the production, archiving and distribution of public service content by the wider sector.
The revised General Scheme was submitted to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport for pre-legislative scrutiny and the Committee published their report with 85 recommendations on 17 September 2025. The recommendations are currently being considered, and the next step will be to finalise the drafting of legislation and bring the Bill to Government for approval and subsequent publication.
The General Scheme of the Media Regulation Bill will implement the key provisions of EMFA in Ireland and strengthen our existing protections for media pluralism and independence. The General Scheme will:
• modernise the existing media mergers regime under the Competition Act 2002 (as amended);
• introduce new rules to increase the transparency of state advertising; and
• designate a number of additional functions to Coimisiún na Meán, including the development of a media ownership database.
From a funding perspective, to support public service media:
• RTÉ were allocated €225m in public funding 2025 in accordance with Government decision July 2024, regarding agreed multi-annual public funding for RTÉ from 2025 to 2027; and
• TG4 were allocated €61.09m, including a €1.09m supplementary allocation approved earlier this month to enable the acceleration of a number of productions commissioned by TG4 for their 2026 schedule.
In 2025, €29.8m was made available for a range of media funding schemes operated by Coimisiún na Meán to support public service content provision, including public interest journalism, new audiovisual and audio programming and the digital transformation of content providers.
The Local Democracy and Courts Reporting Schemes provided €5.7m in total funding earlier this year for the media sector, the vast majority of which was awarded to local print media. The establishment of these funding schemes marked the first time in the State's history that direct financial support has been made available to the print sector. A second funding round was announced in August which will make a further €6m available to the sector, with funding decisions to be announced by Coimisiún na Meán in due course.
The Digital Transformation Scheme and the News Reporting Scheme were each launched by Coimisiún na Meán in the second half of 2025.
The Digital Transformation Scheme is a targeted scheme aiming to incentivise investment in technology and services by public service content providers, accelerating the development of sustainable business models in the sector. It also aims to provide support for the appropriate training and up-skilling of existing staff within the sector. The Scheme will provide a further €3m to the wider media sector on a platform neutral basis.
The News Reporting Scheme will provide support for public interest journalism, focusing on news matters that are under-provided for or at risk of being under-reported. This Scheme includes €1m in open and contestable funding and a ring-fenced €3m for the commercial radio sector to support the production of news coverage that is independent, trustworthy and serves the public interest.
Coimisiún na Meán also launched a €3m fund to support the provision of news and current affairs content on commercial television in order to enhance media plurality and diversity and to the availability of high-quality, trusted public service content that informs and educates viewers.
In accordance with the Broadcasting Act 2009, €13.8m from licence fee receipts was allocated to the Broadcasting Fund for the Sound and Vision Scheme, which supports new audiovisual and audio programming.
To date in 2025, over €14.2m has been awarded across three separate funding rounds through the Sound and Vision Scheme, with approximately 90% of funding awarded to independent producers.
Sound and Vision operates a funding split of 85% for television and 15% for radio, taking into account the cost differential between television and radio production. Radio productions received funding of €2.14m in 2025 while television productions received €12.1m.
€740,000 was awarded to 19 community radio and television stations through a Social Benefit round, a major innovation in the Sound and Vision Scheme that provides essential support to the community media sector.
On 18 November 2025, the Government approved the allocation of €14m from the Shared Island Fund over 2026 - 2028 to support sustained cross-border journalism and more programming content, which will be distributed by Coimisiún na Meán.
Looking ahead to 2026, subject to Government approval, I intend to publish and progress both the Media Regulation Bill and Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill through the legislative process.
From a funding perspective, additional resources were secured in Budget 2026 and from the Shared Island Fund:
• funding for schemes to support the provision of public service content by, and the capacity of, the wider media sector will rise from €29.8m in 2025 to €40.1m in 2026;
• funding for RTÉ will rise from €225m in 2025 to €240m in 2026, in line with the multi-annual public funding commitment; and
• funding for TG4 will rise from €61.09m in 2025 to €65.4m in 2026.
In addition to continue to operate all the media funding schemes in effect in 2025, the funding allocated in Budget 2026 and through the Shared Island Fund will enable:
• an additional €1m for the News Reporting Scheme bringing the total available to €5m;
• €1m for the development of a Community Media Scheme reflecting the invaluable role that community media plays in community engagement, cohesion, and in the promotion of social inclusion in communities across the State;
• €4.6m in Shared Island funding, with a significant share of the investment going to dedicated Sound & Vision Scheme rounds, supporting high-quality content that highlights the culture, creativity and shared experiences of people across the island;
• an additional €1.465m in Exchequer funding for the Sound and Vision Scheme;
Furthermore, the Department was allocated €1.1m in Exchequer funding from Budget 2026 to help support the implementation of the National Counter Disinformation Strategy that was published in April 2025. The funding will support a number of actions related to media literacy, fact checking and research.
The suite of media schemes funded by my Department and operated by Coimisiún na Meán cater to all parts of the media sector, including through the provision of high-quality public interest journalism through the Local Democracy, Courts Reporting and News Reporting Scheme, supporting the ability of the sector to invest in digital skills and development through the Digital Transformation Scheme, and continuing to support new audiovisual and audio programming.
The Programme for Government acknowledges that local and national independent broadcasters perform a vital public service and deserve to have this recognised. In 2026, media funding schemes will continue to provide invaluable support to our local, regional and independent media organisations and the development of a dedicated Community Media Scheme will ensure the continued provision of essential support for local and community media and broadcasters nationwide.
