As the Deputy rightly points out, Section 103 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 provides that RTÉ or TG4 may, with the consent of the Minister, vary the number of television or sound broadcasting channels operated. The process established under Section 103 requires consultation with the broadcaster, consultation with Coimisiún na Meán as to the sectoral impact and consideration of the public value of any such proposal.
As part of its Statement of Strategy 2025-2029, published in June, RTÉ has proposed ceasing a number of digital radio services, as well as time shift channels over the duration of the strategy. RTÉ state that their investment in digital services will allow the content on these services to be available more widely through on-demand services and that closing the plus one channels will allow them to reduce the cost of traditional broadcast distribution and prioritise delivery of live and on-demand content through digital platforms.
To date, a proposal from RTÉ has not been received and, when it is forthcoming, the merits of the proposal will be assessed as outlined above, prior to any decision being made.
