The local democracy and courts reporting schemes, established in response to a recommendation from the Future of Media Commission, were launched by Coimisiún na Meán last summer.

Patrick O’Donovan, the minister for culture, communications and sport, today announced an allocation of €10 million to Coimisiún na Meán to support public interest journalism.

A total of €6 million is being allocated for the second round of the local democracy and courts reporting schemes, with a further €4 million being allocated for the introduction of a news reporting scheme.

Mr O’Donovan said the continuation of the existing schemes “will enable media outlets to further strengthen their coverage of local authorities and the courts”.

“I am also pleased to see the introduction of a €4m news reporting scheme, which will enable media outlets to report on news topics that are not substantially covered at present,” he added.

Some €3 million of that €4 million figure will be ring-fenced to enable commercial radio services to provide additional high-quality news reporting on matters of public interest.