Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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Part 9 of the Broadcasting Act 2009 sets out the statutory basis for the current TV licence system. An Post acts as the TV Licence issuing Agent and is responsible for direct sales to the public. The Department of Social Protection also provides ‘free’ licences to those in receipt of the Household Benefits Package.

The Table below sets out the total TV Licence receipts from Household Sales from January to December 2022 and from January to 10th December this year. It is not possible to accurately estimate the total Household Sales to year end at this stage. The receipts from the Department of Social Protection in respect of licences awarded under the Household Benefits Package set out in the table are for the full year.

-	2022 January-December	2023 January to date
TV Licence Household Sales Receipts	€151,667,840	€124,793,440 *
TV Licence DSP Household Benefits Package Receipts	€69,788,616	€69,788,616

* The most recent figures available are up to and including 10th December.

As I have stated previously, public service content and public service broadcasting is a vital pillar of our society and indeed our democracy, and as such it needs to be supported. The TV licence supports not only RTÉ, but content provided across almost all broadcasters in the State, and therefore it remains important that we all play out part in supporting public service content by continuing to purchase or renew our TV licences.

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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The estimated number of licensable premises not paying a tv license is calculated as follows;

comparing the total number of licensable premises with the total number of TV Licences issued, including both direct sales by An Post and ‘free’ licences provided by the Department of Social Protection under the Household Benefits Package. The number of licensable dwellings is based on CSO data, which is modified to account for homes which are believed to be without a liable device using data from TAM Nielsen regarding household TV penetration. The formula employed to arrive at the number of non-licenced premises is agreed by my Department, An Post and RTÉ.

In 2022, there were 1,653,759 licensable premises and the total TV Licences issued amounted to 1,442,236 (947,924 from direct sales by An Post and 494,312 ‘free’ licences provided under the Household Benefits Package). This means that the number of households estimated not to be paying their television licence is 2022 was 211,523, approximately 13%.

As final TV Licence and licensable premises figures for 2023 are not yet available, it is difficult make accurate an estimation. As the Deputy will be aware, there has been a decline in licence fees issued since late June, which has averaged up to 30% compared to last year. While the situation is still fluid, there has been signs of recovery in recent weeks, with the decline averaging approximately 13% since mid-November. As such, the overall evasion rate for 2023 is likely to be approximately 25%.

As I have stated previously, public service content and public service broadcasting is a vital pillar of our society and indeed our democracy. As such it needs to be supported, and therefore I again urge everyone who is required to have a TV licence to purchase or renew it so that the public service content which the TV licence supports, across all broadcasters, can continue to be provided for the benefit of us all.