Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

Amendments Nos. 141 and 142 are in my name. Amendment No. 141 proposes the deletion of a duplicate reference and amendment No. 142 proposes to clarify the timelines within which a fixed payment notice may be served.

Amendment No. 133, in the name of Deputy McManus, seeks to ensure that a person does not require a second television licence if he or she possesses a television set for a short period of the year at a second address to his or her main address. Section 144(1) of this Bill empowers the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources to make such regulations as are necessary to achieve the effect proposed in amendment No. 133 if such a policy were to be adopted. Such a policy has not yet been adopted. Any such policy proposal would require further analysis, particularly in terms of how it would work from an administrative perspective. Therefore, I do not propose to accept the amendment.

Deputy Coveney's amendments in this grouping - Nos. 130 to 132, inclusive; Nos. 134 to 140, inclusive; and Nos. 143 to 145, inclusive - would, in effect, delete the legislative basis for the television licensing regime without proposing an alternative funding mechanism. They would, in effect, bring an end to the principal source of public funding for public service broadcasting in Ireland. While I fully understand the point being made by Deputy Coveney, I am sure he will appreciate that I do not propose to accept these amendments.

I remind Deputy Coveney, who tabled amendment No. 129, that I have previously stated that in the near future we may have to move away from the television licence as the basis for the funding of public service broadcasting. I reiterate that the licence fee has served us well to date, despite its limitations. It has ensured some measure of independence for RTE from political and commercial pressures. It has also acted as a direct link between audiences and RTE, thereby reminding the national public service operator to whom its public service duty is ultimately owed. As such, we must review proposed alternatives with caution and due diligence. All the issues for consideration that are listed in amendment No. 129 are valid as policy matters for further consideration, primarily by the Department rather than by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland. Therefore, I do not propose to accept the amendment.

It is interesting to reflect on the views of others on this matter. I remember distinctly hearing RTE's view on it when it was discussed at a meeting of the Joint Committee on Arts, Sport, Tourism, Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs. Its preference was for a continuation of the current system because it works. The British Government examined this matter in detail in recent years and it came to a similar conclusion to that reached by us, namely, that while there is cause to examine alternatives it is not yet the time or right technically to switch. We in the Department are open to examining alternatives - but not yet - to replacing the existing system, which provides a certain security for the public service broadcaster in difficult times While it has its costs, it still ultimately works.

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