A cross-party Oireachtas committee has recommended that the Government press ahead with plans to introduce a content levy on streaming services such as Netflix, despite opposition from Fine Gael Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan and disagreement within the Coalition over the proposal.
On Wednesday, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Media published a report containing its recommendations on the Coalition’s Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill.
The committee has been scrutinising the proposed legislation in the months before the Dáil summer recess, hearing evidence from stakeholders, including the main broadcasters, trade unions and representatives from domestic streaming services and the commercial television production sector.
The report, which contains 85 recommendations based on the submissions, calls on the Minister to introduce the so-called Netflix levy. Recommended by the media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM), and supported by the broadcasters and screen producers, funds from the levy would be ring-fenced for independent productions and Irish-language programming.
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The committee heard previously that the levy could raise about €20 million annually.
Earlier this year, however, Mr O’Donovan expressed his opposition to the levy, stating it would not be introduced without his approval. The Fine Gael TD for Limerick County expressed concern that streaming platforms would pass on the cost of the levy to consumers, adding that people were “paying enough” for content.
The committee has now recommended that the Minister introduce the levy in the Bill. Where a minister declines to accept a recommendation from CnaM to introduce a levy, he or she should also be required to prepare and present a report to the Dáil “outlining their rationale”, committee members said.
Committee chairman Alan Kelly said the issue “deserves serious consideration”. He told attendees at the launch in Leinster House that the proposal “builds on a recommendation made by our predecessor committee, which also called for such a levy being introduced”.
Not all members of the committee agreed with the proposal, however. Fine Gael TD Brian Brennan said he is “still really 100 per cent against the levy”, adding that it is “wrong” to introduce it “in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis”.
Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne, who sits on the committee, last week sought to play down a rift between the Government partners over the proposal. Despite supporting the levy, he said on Wednesday that he would vote with the Coalition even if the measure is not contained in the final draft of the legislation.
“[Fianna Fáil believes] we need additional funding sources to [support the independent production sector],” Mr Byrne said.
“We know the streaming companies take huge sums of money out of Ireland, and we think that there should be a levy considered. But obviously, if there’s legislation coming forward, we’ll be voting in favour of that.”
Separately on Wednesday, representatives from CnaM told the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs that the EU’s Digital Services Act has triggered some “behavioural changes” from the platforms it regulates.
The Act, which came into force in February 2024, forces big tech companies to police their platforms more aggressively.
In an opening statement, CnaM digital services commissioner John Evans told TDs and Senators that the media regulator has processed some 2,800 complaints since February 2024, 30 per cent of which related to digital services.
Mr Evans said: “We have begun to see some behavioural changes from the platforms which we regulate, but we are not complacent about the risks that people still face online.”
He said the “days of platform self-regulation are over” and that CnaM will “have no hesitation in launching enforcement action and investigations” against platforms that do not comply with the regulations.
CnaM will also meet online platforms over the coming weeks, “to assess their readiness for dealing with election-related issues”, in advance of the presidential election.
