Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 251 and 252 together.

The most up to date figures of TV licences issued by An Post for the third week in January are as follows; 13,956 (12,069 renewals) with the equivalent figure for the same period in 2023 being 15,299 (12,895 renewals), a reduction of just under 9%.

The total number of TV licences issued as recorded by An Post in 2023 amounted to 824,278 (of which 732,532 were renewals) compared to 947,924 (831,973 renewals) in 2022. This represents a reduction of 123,646 TV licences, or 13%. In addition to the issued TV licences figure above, 521,790 'free' licenses were provided under the Household Benefits Package.

A county by county breakdown of the above figures is not available to my Department.

I have on numerous occasions stressed the importance and value of public service broadcasting to our society as a whole, and while there has been some signs of recovery in the purchase of TV licences since November, I would again urge anyone liable to purchase a TV licence to ensure they do so, to ensure that public service content, including that on commercial and local broadcasters, continues to be supported.