Finian McGrath
Question:895. Deputy Finian McGrath asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on a matter (details supplied) regarding the Public Service Broadcasting Charge. [28487/15]
View answerTuesday, 14 July 2015
Questions (895)
Written answers
The Programme for Government commits to examining the role and collection of the TV licence fee in light of existing and projected convergence of technologies and to transforming the TV licence into a household based Public Service Broadcasting Charge to be applied to all eligible households and applicable businesses, regardless of the device used to access content or services. The primary objective in introducing a Public Service Broadcasting Charge is to secure a more stable funding stream for public service broadcasting than the current TV Licence system provides in light of the current high level of evasion and the impact that technological developments are having on the way that media is consumed.
In terms of the timing of the introduction of any new charge, in my statement of 21 April 2015 on the publication of the NewERA and Indecon reports, I indicated that I had advised Government that it would not be possible to replace the TV licence fee with a public service broadcasting charge within the lifetime of this Government. I also pointed to the need to build public understanding and support for the introduction of such a charge.
In terms of funding for community broadcasters, the Broadcasting Funding Scheme represents an already significant source of support for non-profit community radio stations. This Scheme is currently funded by way of a set proportion of net television licence fee receipts and I do not expect this position to change with the introduction of the new Public Service Broadcasting Charge.
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI) is assigned responsibility under Part 10 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 for the administration of the Broadcasting Funding Scheme which aims, inter alia, to develop local and community broadcasting by providing funding for the provision of high quality, diverse and innovative programming by community broadcasters.
In addition, the BAI operates the Community Broadcasting Support Scheme, which is a development fund that allows community radio stations to conduct evaluations of their activities. The scheme provides funding for stations to carry out key review work to assist with their overall performance and to build capacity.