Peter Barry
Question:42 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he intends to make a subvention to RTE to enable it to hold next year's Eurovision final in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Vol. 431 No. 7
42 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht if he intends to make a subvention to RTE to enable it to hold next year's Eurovision final in Ireland; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The funding of the Eurovision Song Contest which will be hosted by RTE next year is a matter for the RTE Authority. I have not received any request from the Authority for a specific subvention and I would point out that RTE receives an annual grant-in-aid from the Exchequer equivalent to net receipts from broadcasting licence fees for the general purposes of broadcasting. In the current year the grant-in-aid is estimated at £50.589 million.