TV licence cash to fund new programmes

The Government is to divert part of the €150 annual TV licence fee charged to viewers towards the making of cultural and educational programmes.

Communications minister Dermot Ahern said 5% of the fee would be taken up by the new funding scheme in line with a promise issued when the licence charge was last increased.

The move will raise around €8m annually.

The money will be available for new television and radio programmes on Irish culture, heritage and experience – and for new programmes aimed at improving adult literacy.

A spokesman for Mr Ahern said: “The objective of the scheme is to develop new, high quality programmes, including programmes in the Irish language, which are broadcast to a wide audience at peak times.“

Both the independent broadcasters and RTE will be eligible to apply under the terms of the scheme, which will also support the development of national archive of broadcasting material, including recordings from both RTE and the commercial sector.

Mr Ahern said the money would assist in providing radio and TV programming that was “uniquely Irish and will hold up a mirror to ourselves, society and the Ireland of today.”

:: Etain Doyle, head of Ireland’s Commission for Communications Regulation, is to step down after six years in the job.

Mr Ahern said she had made a unique contribution in a sector dominated by large multi-national companies.