Michael McDowell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Ms Forbes agreed with Deputy Cullinane that the decision to put out to tender the television licence fee collection system could be described as either unsustainable or kicking it down the road.

I note the Department has stated there are difficulties with using the local property tax model because the landlord is usually the owner and is liable for it. With a bit of thought, the Department could have put in place a burden-sharing between the landlord and tenant. It does not take five years to work that out. I suggest that the Department has deliberately chosen, perhaps because of the electoral cycle, not to accept what this committee recommended. Instead, it has given itself a five to seven-year holiday from reality. It has decided to ignore the obvious proposition, which I among others have spoken about at this committee and elsewhere. There are simple collection mechanisms for every home, every hotel and business that uses communication, which the Revenue Commissioners could easily implement through local property tax, commercial rates or whatever.

Why has the Department said this is so complex that it needs several years to do it when it is just a case of the Department rolling up its sleeves? The Department has had months since the committee’s report on this issue was tendered to it. It could have come up with a positive decision as to what it wanted to do. I do not want to put Ms Cronin under too much pressure. However, the Minister should be here in my view to explain to the committee why our report has been shelved. The inference I am drawing is that it is political cowardice.