Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

The broadcasting charge will be a replacement for the television licence fee, not a new charge. When the Deputy says it will amount to a new charge for some people, that is true in so far as it refers to those who are cheating. The extent of evasion is currently of the order of €25 million. On the question of whether I hope to raise more revenue under the new system, that depends on what impact we can make on that €25 million, that is, how much of it we can bring back into the fold.

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