Pauline Tully
Question:801. Deputy Pauline Tully asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media when section 51 of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 will come into effect. [38597/23]
View answerMonday, 11 September 2023
Questions (801)
Written answers
Section 51 of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022, amends the Broadcasting Act 2009 by inserting a new section 155A into that Act. Pursuant to this section, Coimisiún na Meán shall prepare and submit for my approval, as Minister, a scheme or schemes to make grants to local and community sound broadcasters for the purposes of supporting and promoting good professional journalistic practices and standards in local and community sound broadcasting. The Act provides that any such schemes made under this section shall be funded under Part 10 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, meaning that it shall be funded by 7% of net licence fee receipts.
The commencement of section 51 will provide the legal basis for An Coimisiún to prepare and submit a scheme, or schemes, for my approval as Minister and to make and carry out any approved schemes. Under the Act, any scheme made by An Coimisiún is required to be laid before each House of the Oireachtas, where it will be subject to a negative resolution procedure.
It is my intention that section 51 will be commenced in due course, following consultation with Coimisiún na Meán, who may need to carry out research and consultation to determine the most appropriate basis for preparing a scheme and to ensure alignment and consistency with the new initiatives that Coimisiún na Meán is bringing forward to support the sector.
I recognise the essential role that the local and community media sector plays in sharing reliable and relevant local news and bringing communities together. The media sector in Ireland, which is a vital element of our democracy and society as a whole, is undergoing fundamental change. In line with the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission as adopted by Government, Coimisiún na Meán is progressing work on the detailed design and implementation of a Local Democracy Reporting Scheme and a Courts Reporting Scheme. State Aid approval may also be required from the European Commission and work on this is being progressed in parallel. As the schemes are to be administered on a platform neutral basis, local and community radio will be eligible to apply for funding from the schemes once established.
Furthermore, the objectives of the Sound and Vision Scheme include developing local and community broadcasting, and the Broadcasting Act 2009 also makes further provision that An Coimisiún, in preparing a scheme, may have regard to the development needs of community broadcasters.
In this context, a new funding initiative was established in 2021 under the Sound and Vision Scheme with the purpose of supporting the development of the community broadcasting sector. The objective of this funding measure, the Social Benefit Fund, is to provide the social benefits as set out in the Social Benefit Framework for community broadcasters, published on the 19th of June 2020. This funding aims to facilitate better representation and diversity of local communities, communities of interest or of special interest in their respective community radio or TV station.
To date €1.5m was made available for two social benefit rounds which were awarded by Coimisiún na Meán/BAI in 2021 and 2023. Further supports, in which some operational funding is eligible, are also offered to the community sector through the open rounds of the Sound and Vision Scheme. In addition, a further community benefit round is expected to be announced by Coimisiún na Meán later this year.