Mr. Bryan Kelly:

I suppose the toggle factor there is the rate or fee. The fee is set in legislation at €40. As the Deputy will understand, the fee is not set by us but is set on our behalf. As in the case of any entity that is providing a service and levying a price for the service, the ultimate hope of the RTB reducing its amount of Exchequer funding would be around the possibility of that fee being increased over time.

I point out to the Deputy that, as is noted in our briefing documents, the RTB was entirely self-funded until 2015 but its mandate has increased very significantly since then. We have had lots of new legislation. Our chair made reference to six pieces of new legislation, with three each in 2021 and 2020. The public, if you like, and ultimately the State asks a lot of us and has facilitated that with incremental funding. As long as the mandate stays as broad as it is, and it probably even needs to broaden in other areas, I anticipate we will continue to rely on State funding for several years to come. It will probably be many years to come, absent a change in that annual registration fee.