Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

The amendments in group 21 relate to the television licence regime. Amendment No. 261 caters for the identification of licences which may have been issued via the new TV licence website, which was successfully launched by An Post this year, rather than being issued at a particular post office branch.

Amendment No. 267 is proposed to clarify the timelines with respect to which a fixed payment notice may be served. Amendments Nos. 264 and 266 are rewordings by Parliamentary Counsel to ensure greater clarity around the fixed payment notice process set out in section 149. Amendment No. 268 is a new section which is being introduced to avoid ambiguity as to when the term of a television licence begins in instances where the reminder notification process under section 149 has been utilised. Subsection (3) is intended to offer another alternative to criminal proceedings, that is that the television licence fee may be pursued by An Post as a civil debt rather than prosecuted as a criminal offence.