The Government has announced, on Friday 1 August 2019, a series of reforms to the TV Licence system, including the tendering of collection services.
The Government has also confirmed the replacement of the traditional TV licence fee with a new “device independent broadcasting charge” after the new tendered contract expires in five years time.
RTÉ has responded to the announcement.
“RTÉ has been making the case for reform of the TV Licence system for many years, and it has been made in numerous independent reviews. While this decision by Government to tender for collection services is welcome, nonetheless the decision to defer implementation of a revised media charge system means that the crisis in the funding of public service media will continue.
Latest evasion levels are 13%, significantly higher than in the UK and other European countries. The fact is that the number of homes that do not have a traditional television set – but who are nonetheless consuming public service content – is increasing rapidly and the current television licence fee mechanism reflects less and less how people consume public-service content. When added to the evasion rate, currently close to 25% of homes are now not paying the TV Licence due to an outdated and inefficient system. This is resulting in tens of millions in lost funding for public media and the broader sector each year.
The BAI has recommended an immediate increase in funding of €30m to RTÉ so that we can maintain public services and continue to support the Irish audio visual sector. While the measures announced today may improve collection performance in the medium term they do not address this immediate structural funding challenge and in reality could make it more difficult.
TV Licence payers want RTÉ to do more, and they deserve more. With reform now pushed out further, RTÉ’s capacity to deliver against its existing remit is severely compromised.”
