Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 18 May 2023
20. Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the practical steps available to ensure that online GAA sporting content is not behind a paywall; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [23458/23]
View answerThe designation of events as free to air is a statutory process which provides the opportunity to designate certain events that have a special resonance or a distinct cultural importance for the country. The criteria which must be met in order to designate an event are set out in the Broadcasting Act 2009 and are informed by Ireland’s obligations under EU Law.
An initial round of consultation, designed to allow the public put forward events to be added to or removed from the existing list, has been completed and will inform the process going forward. Due to the impacts of Covid on sports events and revenues, the process was halted to allow sporting bodies to bring back a full schedule of events and recover financially. I now intend to consult with Cabinet colleagues before publishing the list of proposed events and commencing the next consultation in the coming weeks. This will allow the public, sports bodies and broadcasters a further opportunity to make known their views.
My Department will also commission an independent report on the impacts of designation, and the extent to which the proposed events meet the criteria set down in the European Audiovisual Media Services Directive. Following this assessment, my officials will engage with the European Commission to seek approval for any additional events. Subsequently, a draft Order will be prepared and laid before each House of the Oireachtas.
In relation to GAA events, while the senior football and hurling championships have a special resonance with a large proportion of the population, this statutory process and the associated criteria set out in the European Directive are not intended to provide for designating all events within any particular sport. Rather it is intended to ensure that significant events which are of special cultural importance to the population in general, including when our national teams are playing, are not broadcast behind a paywall.
Other than those events which are designated, the broadcasting and commercial rights of individual sports are a matter for the relevant national governing body. Offering the rights to broadcast events is an important source of revenue for many sports bodies, such as the GAA. A challenge for all sports bodies is how to balance revenue generation with facilitating access to events by as wide an audience as possible. The GAA have stated that they will review this issue at the end of the season and I welcome this commitment.
