Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

The programme for Government includes what the Minister has outlined. When is he likely to introduce enabling legislation? Is it likely to be this year? I refer to the scale of implementation of the charge. For example, people renew their television licences on a rolling basis. If a new charge were applied, would that be on an annualised basis?

I spoke on another occasion of consulting with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government about the use of a database. Is that the same database as the one used for the household charge? Section 14 of the relevant legislation allowed for the use of the database, or there was some discussion about the protocols with regard to the Data Protection Commissioner.

On previous occasions the Minister said the charge for the television licence might end up being less than it is at the moment. If that is the case, somebody else is coming into the mix. I understand people are viewing on different platforms and so on. Most companies, for example, will have a computer, but will not necessarily watch television. The charge the Minister is considering appears to capture businesses also. Will there be a differential in the charge for businesses and households, or does he envisage a single charge?

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