Vol. 554 No. 5
93 Mr. Coveney asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources his views on the role of public service broadcasting into the future; and his further views on the way in which it should be financed. [17073/02]
The Deputy will be aware that the Forum on Broadcasting established in March of this year submitted its report to me in mid August. The forum was asked to consider the future of broadcasting in Ireland. The forum recommended that RTE's role as the designated public service broadcaster should be re-affirmed.
I sought comments on the report from interested parties by the end of September. I am considering the recommendations of the forum along with the submissions I have received. Later this year I will outline how I intend to proceed regarding the forum's recommendations. At this point I can say that I am of the view that the people of Ireland are likely to be best served by a broadcasting sector that includes RTE as a strong national public service broadcaster with a broad remit that is clearly defined.
As regards how RTE should be funded in the future, I agree with the forum's recommendation that it should continue to be dual funded, receiving moneys from the proceeds of the television licence fee along with commercial revenue. As to the actual level of the licence fee, any application from RTE for an increase in the licence fee will be considered on its merits when received. Clearly, however, RTE must account in an open and transparent fashion regarding its use of the significant public moneys made available to it.
The forum's report also included a number of significant recommendations that impact directly or indirectly on the question of the funding of RTE. These include the recommendation that RTE should operate on the basis of a charter and the recommendation that there should be a single content regulator. I intend to take decisions on how to proceed regarding these recommendations before taking a decision on the actual level of the television licence fee.
In light of Deputy Gilmore's question on the funding of RTE, why did the former Minister, Mr. Ray Burke, decide to limit RTE's radio advertising time to 7.5 minutes per hour while allowing commercial radio stations to use nine minutes per hour, a limit which still applies? Does the Minister plan to reverse this decision and allow RTE to be competitive in its ability to raise advertising revenue? Does he intend to implement in full the recommendations of the Forum on Broadcasting? Will he set up a national broadcasting authority as recommended by the forum? For many people the most significant broadcasting issue at present is that of free-to-view television coverage of key events. Will the Minister outline in detail the current state of his discussions regarding this issue with the FAI, BSkyB, RTE and other sporting bodies?
I will be answering a subsequent question on this subject. One of the measures taken by the then Minister, Mr. Burke, still remains in place. This issue involves the amount of time during which RTE, as opposed to the independent broadcasting sector, can broadcast advertising in any one period. This issue is being discussed regarding the licence fee application. We have invited RTE to indicate its position to us, particularly in view of the findings of the Flood tribunal report.
Does the Minister have a view as to why the decision was taken?
It was an effort to develop the independent radio and television sector and it has worked. The independent sector would have a view about any tampering with that at present, particularly in view of the fact that RTE is the recipient of substantial funds from the taxpayer, whereas the independent sector is not.
What is the Minister's view on the television licence fee? Has he any plans to ensure that the collection of that fee can be done in a more efficient manner? Will he tell the House what percentage of television users do not pay the television licence fee? Is the Minister sympathetic to the submission made by the Irish Hard of Hearing Association which rightly demands that realistic, but ambitious, targets be set for the use of subtitling in public service broadcasting?
The latter issue is very much to the fore in the discussions we undertake with RTE. I did not answer the Deputy's earlier question about whether the Government accepts the recommendations of the forum report. As I indicated earlier, we had planned to allow for a short period of consultation up to the end of September. We have received most of the submissions and we will be making decisions on the recommendations of the forum over the next few months. It will all be linked into any possible application by RTE regarding the licence fee.
There have been detailed discussions between my Department, An Post and RTE regarding the collection of the licence fee. I do not have information on the percentage level of non-payment but it is relatively high – in fact it is very high.
It is 40%.
RTE and An Post may disagree on the figure. We are examining this issue to see if there is a better method of collection of the fee if slippage is occurring.
Before we proceed to the next question, I note that a Deputy was offering to speak. I wish to remind the House that, during Priority Questions, supplementary questions are confined to the Members in whose names they are submitted.
