Brian Stanley (Laois, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To insert the following after “independent radio sector by the end of June 2019”:“— commit to not increasing the TV licence fee as a means to fund local radio; and

— commit to improving the collection rates”

Sinn Féin broadly supports the motion put forward this morning. We believe the place of public service broadcasting needs to be maintained and supported because it forms an essential part of our media into the future. Local independent radio is an important part of that media landscape. It accounts for the majority of radio listeners every weekday across the State and it provides an important service to communities around the State. It can be the main source of news and a vital vehicle to keeping local communities connected. I see it in the midlands areas of Laois, Offaly and Westmeath. Midlands 103 FM airs across the three counties and well beyond with a weekly listenership of 119,000. Midlands 103 FM provides a very important service to Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and other surrounding counties. It has excellent coverage of news, current affairs, sport and entertainment.From the democracy perspective it has coverage of local government, the local councils and the events here in the Dáil. The station also covers European Union affairs, which is very important. It is vital that the public service obligation for independent radio stations be retained.

Alongside independent radio there is community radio, which has an important role for communities. Community radio in Ireland has some 2,000 volunteers broadcasting to 170,000 people in 21 fully licensed stations. Community radio presents a unique way for the community and voluntary sector, civil society, agencies, NGOs and citizens to work together to make a difference.

With regard to any future funding we have to ask where the money is going to come from. On the issue of the licence fee, RTÉ received €186.1 million from the licence fee in 2017 and it also receives substantial funding from advertising. RTÉ, however, has requested further funding. We understand there is a problem with the funding of RTÉ and the licence fee collection, but current expenditure at RTÉ is also an issue. I raised this with the Minister on the 24 January. I highlighted some of the excessive salaries at RTÉ and the incomes paid out by the broadcaster. Figures of €495,000, €400,000 and €389,000 are being paid for individual presenters. These are substantial sums for a station that serves a population on the whole island of 6.5 million. This is approximately half the population of London. Would a regional TV station in Britain, France or anywhere else across Europe serving a similarly sized population provide such excessive salaries? When I questioned the Minister, Deputy Bruton, about this last month, he committed to meeting RTÉ in this regard. Has the Minister met RTÉ, and if so, what was the outcome? The licence fee paid by the householder needs to be traceable. There needs to be accountability, transparency and justification for how householders' money is spent.

There is a high rate evasion of the TV licence fee and it must be dealt with. The evasion rate is approximately 15% and is one of the highest in the EU. Addressing the evasion rate would generate an estimated €35 million to €40 million per annum. We must take this on board and there are avenues through which this can be done. When this issue was discussed at the committee, Sinn Féin proposed there would be no increase in the licence fee because many households are already struggling to pay the fee, especially those on low and middle incomes. Sinn Féin proposed a different model for the collection of the TV licence fee and we put this forward for the report. There should be a registration onto a database for the purposes of collection of the licence fee at the point of purchase of the television set or at the point of connection for a broadcast service. This would be a very straightforward way to do this and it is done like this in other countries.

Sinn Féin is opposed to the use of the Revenue Commissioners to collect the TV licence. This would be seen as another tax on people, not a licence or a fee. It is totally inappropriate to use this arm of the State for the collection of the TV licence fee. The Sinn Féin proposal to register at the point of purchase does not use the heavy arm of the State or the heavies of private debt collectors to collect the licence fee, which happened across the water in Britain when the collection was privatised and tendered out to private companies. This resulted in huge compensation being paid out to householders who were victims of sharp practice, poor practice and intimidation by some of those companies. We should not take that road.

There should be no increase in the licence fee but there must be improvement in the collection process. We should not opt for the simple option of just jacking up the fee again. There are alternatives that will increase compliance and we need to pursue these options.

The Committee of Public Accounts said that clarity should be brought to the oversight arrangements of RTÉ in addition to the provisions of the Broadcasting Act. I referred earlier to the incomes paid by RTÉ. Householders see these excessive salaries being paid out and wonder if they are justified. The Minister cannot simply pass the buck on the issue of the expenditure of the TV licence. He is the shareholder and the public representative there. The Minister and I both know that it is the shareholders in companies who call the shots. The Minister also sets the licence fee through the legislation, so he has a lot of leverage in his hands on this matter. The Minister has a responsibility to create transparency with the use of public moneys.

Sinn Féin sees the need for a good, proper and well-funded public broadcaster service. We want to see the local radio stations assisted in this. They provide a very important service to communities.

They are important to counter the fake news online and much of the rubbish that is put up from time to time. It is more important now than ever that we retain that service and ensure we have it in the future. They are under pressure. Public service broadcasting is a popular role that local stations provide. We need to retain that. We have an amendment which is very straightforward. It commits to not increasing the licence fee solely as a means to fund local radio and commits to improving the collection rates. Sinn Féin asks that this be accepted by the Government and Fianna Fáil.

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