Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Under subhead B, I refer to the broadcasting fee. I note that bulk of the total figure, €190 million, comes from the licence fee. There is little or no accountability for how that is spent. I note that the Committee of Public Accounts has written to RTÉ, requesting that its representatives appear. Is there any accountability to the Department for that considerable sum of money? That is one question.

My second question under subhead B relates to our progress in capturing the 14% to 17% licence fee evasion. I am very clear that the TV licence fee should not be increased. We should aim to spread the burden more widely, because an awful lot of people get up early in the morning and earn very small wages, but who dutifully buy stamps to pay their television licence every week. Indeed, people who are on other low incomes, such as social welfare, do the same thing. People who are fairly wealthy may not pay it. What progress has been made? The wheels seem to turn very slowly. I put forward proposals to improve that collection rate by having the registration at the point of purchase of the service or of a television set. A user would immediately come into the net. What is the current position and what is the scale of the loss at the moment? The figure of €40 million has been mentioned in the past.

My questions concern accountability for where the money goes and the progress in moving to a new system to ensure a greater spread of the burden while keeping the licence fee where it is.