Ms Breda O'Keeffe:

As the Deputy knows, we do not collect the licence fee. An Post is the agent that is responsible for collecting the licence fee on behalf of the Department, which in turn grants us approximately 83% of the overall licence fee pot. Evasion is an issue. While the figures with regard to the level of evasion vary between RTE and the Department, there is agreement that it is between 16% and 18%, which is pretty high. It is one of the highest levels in Europe. The current advertising campaign followed last year's increase in evasion, which can be seen as a response to the economic downturn. We accept that €160 is a great deal of money for a household. I suppose the advertising campaign is helping people to understand that they need to pay the licence fee even if they have a Sky or UPC subscription. I think it is having an impact. The modest recovery in the economy is probably helping as well. Evasion continues to be an issue for us.