Malcolm Byrne (Wicklow-Wexford, Fianna Fail)

The Minister said during his presentation to the committee that not all the costs can fall back on the Department and at some stage he looks forward to actors here appearing in places such as Netflix. He took a decision this year on the streaming levy. There was cross-party support on the committee and it was a recommendation of a report commissioned by Coimisiún na Meán to introduce the levy. The Minister said it was in the interest of consumers. It would only have cost approximately 30 cent for each consumer per month if it was introduced as discussed. It would have generated approximately €20 million. On 1 January, Denmark took a similar decision to introduce a 2% levy and it is higher if Netflix and others do not invest in Danish content. Netflix did not increase the price of content in Denmark. Why did the Minister decide not to introduce this levy when the streamers are charging consumers here among the highest costs in the world?