Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The programme for Government made a commitment to replace the television licence fee with a household-based broadcasting charge. We have looked very closely at developments in other countries and, if I am not mistaken, this committee's equivalent in the House of Commons investigated this issue recently. Other countries are also considering the idea of moving away from a device-specific charge to one that is household-based. I do not think we are in a position yet to introduce a household broadcast charge. We would have to build public understanding and acceptance for such a charge. I have previously pointed out this will not be a new or additional charge, but sometimes in the broad cacophony of debate in the echo chamber, that message does not get across. We need to build public acceptance for a broadcasting charge. Public service broadcasting is critical to our democracy and it should be funded in a robust and stable fashion. There is merit to a broadcasting charge but I do not see it being introduced in 2016. We should look to develop and model it in the medium term, based on the experience in other countries.