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Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: Exactly, but on the question of the licence fee and the stock amount of funds that are there, if one was to introduce legislation to ensure the regulator was funded directly from the licence fee, as matters currently stand and short of all the things we need to do to improve compliance, one would have to increase the licence fee. I do not know if the Senator is proposing that.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: I said the difference between the figures of €27 million and €38 million comprised the inclusion of VAT, which was not included in the first figure, consultancy costs and the internal staff costs in my Department which were put into the €38 million.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The cost of consultants was €2.4 million.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: There are no plans to change or remove the collection role in respect of the television licence from An Post. I indicated to the committee earlier that there are proposals I will be bringing to Government on the actual database to improve it and ensure it is more robust. They are the only plans we have.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: There is no requirement for any levitation. On the question of the television licence, it is true, as the Deputy stated, that he has not advocated a distribution of the licence fee. Nevertheless, it is a corollary of the argument he is putting. The argument made by the Deputy is compelling enough, as public service programmes do not just appear on the public service broadcaster. There are...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: Is the conclusion to be drawn that we should distribute the licence fee to those stations as well? If that is what the Deputy is saying, it is a redistribution of the television licence.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: I respectfully disagree with the Deputy on that point. There remains a strong case to have a robust form of funding for public service broadcasting, by which I mean, principally, the public service broadcasters. That has been the policy of every Government going back not just to the 1960s, when television was set up, but right through the period when independent radio and television was...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The answer to the question is "Yes". One way that has been canvassed is that if, for example, the compliance rate for the licence fee could be increased, there would be a bigger fund. Could we look at a new and improved sound and vision scheme and ways of channelling money-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: That is not the case.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: That is not true. I was in the middle of saying-----

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: -----that one could consider changing it to better facilitate the commercial sector. We are coming to the end of the lifetime of this Government in any event, so it is not something that will happen between now and next March. I am canvassing possibilities with the committee in answer to the Deputy's question. We could consider how to channel funds to commercial operators, whether that is...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: In terms of consultancy, I have some sympathy with the generality of the remarks the Deputy made in respect of consultants. At a certain period in our history, there was a proliferation of consultancy across the public service. I think consultants should only be used when necessary.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: We should only bring in consultants to work on public projects when we do not have the necessary skills within the Civil Service. I do not travel much but I travel a little and I have spoken to Ministers in other countries about broadband. No matter what a person's view is, broadband is a major infrastructural project. That project is being managed within my Department by a relatively...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: -----if that is not consistent with what the State or the Government wants.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: If the Deputy wishes to discuss a specific example with me now or in the future, I will happily do so, as it would be a matter of concern, but it is not happening in the case of Eircode or otherwise. Eircode is under the management and leadership of my Department. Its expenditure and so on can be scrutinised by this committee of the public accounts committee as appropriate. As regards...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: -----where the commercial sector will not deliver what needs to be delivered for the people of rural Ireland. We are doing that. The Deputy stated that the projects should be done side by side. The national broadband plan, with its 30% or whatever it ends up being and the 96%, is a large undertaking. It is not realistic to assert that we should be rolling out services in rural areas in...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: Absolutely. We have just received an extra €130 million under the capital programme for energy efficiency measures to be taken over the next period. I will ensure that as many resources as possible are targeted at homes and citizens who are in energy poverty.

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: I will not provide specific details on schemes today, as I will be making a number of announcements in the coming weeks on how we view energy efficiency programmes developing in the coming period. It will be of interest to the Deputy to know that, before the end of the year, I will publish an energy affordability policy, in which respect we have consulted extensively this year. It will draw...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: The national broadband scheme largely comprises the MANs. We can certainly fill out some of the detail on that for the Deputy if he wants, but it is what we are dealing with in respect of the national broadband scheme as opposed to the national broadband plan, which the Deputy then went on to discuss. The approach of identifying areas which there is no question of the commercial sector ever...

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Transport and Communications: Estimates for Public Services 2015: Vote 29 - Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (7 Oct 2015)

Alex White: That is exactly right.

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