THE NUMBER OF people paying their TV licences has risen since the end of January, despite the latest controversy to hit RTÉ last week regarding exit payments made to senior figures. 

Figures released by the Department of Culture and Arts today show that 11,984 TV licences were issued by An Post last week. 

This is up from 10,386 licences being issued in the last week of January. The figure dropped to 8,017 in the first week of February but had risen again to 10,466 by the following week. 

While the figures are on the rise slightly, the number of licences issued last week remain lower than the number issued in the same week in 2023, when 12,400 TV licences were handed out. 

Speaking in the Dáil this afternoon, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said that “as long as this saga continues, people are voting with their feet and hundreds of thousands choose not to pay the TV licence”.

The rise in licences being issued in recent weeks comes despite RTÉ being hit with further controversy this week regarding exit payments. 

Last week, it was revealed to the Oireachtas Media Committee by the broadcaster’s Director General Kevin Bakhurst that RTÉ’s former financial controller Breda O’Keeffe got €450,000 in her exit package from the broadcaster in 2020.

Bakhurst subsequently released a statement on Saturday with details of how a number of executives at the national broadcaster left their posts. 

RTÉ was initially plunged into crisis in June when the State broadcaster revealed it under-declared fees to its then-highest-paid staff member Ryan Tubridy. The scandal widened as a series of other financial and governance issues emerged.

In the wake of this scandal, the number of TV licences issued in Ireland dropped by thousands. 

The crisis at RTÉ triggered the departure of several key executives from the national broadcaster.