Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

245. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of TV licences collected, the cost to the Exchequer of TV licence collection, distinguishing the payment to An Post, and estimates of evasion and avoidance over the period 2014 to 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38887/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy will be aware, in July of this year Government agreed to a multi-annual public funding arrangement for RTÉ, consisting of a combination of revenue from TV licence fees and Exchequer support. Key to Government's decision was the provision of multi-annual funding to provide certainty to RTÉ, enabling it to plan on a multi-annual basis for the delivery of its New Direction Statement of Strategy 2025-2029.

As part of this decision, the current TV licence system will be retained, but underpinned by improvements in collection and compliance to maximise revenue generation in support of public service media content. The Government has reconvened the TV licence Technical Working Group and it is expected to report to me by the end of this month. As it continues its work, it would not be appropriate for me to pre-empt the deliberations of the Group and the nature of the recommendations they may bring forward.

The information sought by the Deputy is set out in the tables below:

Numbers of TV Licences sold by An Post (2014-2023):

Sum paid to An Post for collection of TV Licence for the years 2014-2023:

Under Section 145 of the Broadcasting Act, 2009, subsections (9) & (10), the Minister pays an appropriate sum to the issuing agent in respect of work done to collect the television licence. This sum is appropriated from TV licence receipts collected, and as such the annual cost to the Exchequer is nil.

The sums paid to An Post for the years 2014 to 2023 from the TV licence collection receipts in respect of the cost of collection is set-out below:

Evasion rate for the years 2014-2023 are set-out below:

This evasion rate is arrived at through the collation of data from a number of diverse sources, following a methodology agreed between the Department, An Post and RTÉ in 2013. The evasion rate data employs a diverse range of sources, such as housing data from the 2021 Census, CSO housing data for new builds and business data from the Revenue Commissioner’s Annual Reports.

Avoidance rate for the years 2020-2023:

TAM-Nielsen carry out regular research on the TV universe including compiling statistics on TV penetration and usage. This includes compiling estimates on the number of homes with or without a TV set and the types of TV reception used. For the purposes of providing an avoidance figure, TAM statistics on no-TV homes and homes with Broadband television only are used, but are not independently reviewed or assessed by the Department. The TAM Nielsen estimates are set out below:

Note: Figures for ‘avoidance’ as interpreted above prior to 2020 are not available to the Department.

Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

246. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht whether, during deliberations on the future of the license fee, and specifically before committing additional money to the existing license fee collection contract, she has considered an open tender as has been provided for by Section 145 of the Broadcasting Act 2009, for the collection of the licence fee. [38907/24]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The designation of the issuing agent for the purposes of the TV licence is set out in Section 145 of the Broadcasting Act 2009. Section 145(3) of the Act currently provides that the Minister may, by order, designate an issuing agent other than An Post.

When the question of potentially appointing another or different issuing agent was previously proposed, it was considered on the basis of legal advice that the legislation does not provide for the possibility of tendering the contract under procurement procedures, but rather provides for the designation of An Post or another issuing agent to act on behalf of the Minister in return for a statutory payment.

As the Deputy will be aware, the Government, in agreeing to retain the TV licence system, has reconvened the TV Licence Technical Working Group to consider potential changes and improvements to the system. The Group are due to report back to me at the end of this month and as such I do not want to pre-empt any proposals which may be brought forward, and which may then be considered by Government.

It is also worth noting that Section 145(11) of the Act provides that the issuing agent, An Post, may with the consent of the Minister, appoint a sub-agent to perform certain acts and powers for the purposes of collecting the television licence. No such consent has been sought by An Post from the Minister to appoint a sub-agent for television licence collection.