Ar an gcéad dul síos, guím Nollaig shona agus athbhliain faoi mhaise ar an gCeann Comhairle. Tá súil agam go mbeidh bliain síochána ann an bhliain seo chugainn.

I also grew up beside the Dodder but I will not talk about the Dodder today. Local radio provides vital public service broadcasting, particularly in current affairs, news and sport. The coming year will see a whole series of elections. I believe public service broadcasting should cover these elections. With 57 seats available in County Galway alone, for example, it is not possible for one national broadcaster to cover it in the detail that will be required. That vacuum will be filled by local radio in particular. It provides a vital local service but it is a very expensive thing to cover the pre-election, the election and the counts and post-election. Are there plans to provide public service broadcasting status to local commercial radio stations so that they can give full, adequate and detailed coverage not only to the preparations for the local elections but also to the counts themselves?

The Deputy raises a valid and interesting point. I cannot say there are immediate plans to do anything more than what has been done all along. There is a broader issue around the media commission’s report and the funding of public service broadcasting more generally, including the national broadcasts but also public service content on local radio and in print media. Hopefully we can get that resolved. I doubt whether that would be in time for next year’s local elections. I will take on board what the Deputy is saying to see if anything can be done on an interim basis.