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THE DIRECTOR GENERAL of RTÉ has said the TV licence fee should be increased to €175.
Speaking in front of the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action
and Environment this evening, Dee Forbes said ”uncertainty” around the TV licence fee – which is currently €160 – is making it impossible for the state broadcaster to plan ahead.
While she said 2016 was a successful year for RTÉ in terms of viewership, their annual report due to be published shortly, will show a deficit for last year.
She said Ireland is a nation of story-tellers, but said it is a real shame that the State broadcaster does not have sufficient funding to reflect that and compete with other countries.
“The reason we keep advocating for reform is because there has been no reform. The current uncertainty around the TV licence fee system both in its current performance and how and when it might be reformed are making it almost impossible for us at RTÉ and those reliant on us to plan for the next year ahead, let alone the next five years as is being expected by our regulator and our department,” she said.
Why no increase?
She told the committee members the station is reliant on the TV licence fee for over 50% of its funding, but questioned why it had not increased when the cost of everything else had risen over the last decade.
“The cost of licence fee has not been increased in a decade and this is unlike virtually any other public or private utility. To keep pace with inflation, stamps have increased in price, newspapers have increased in price, pay TV subscriptions, health insurance, phone bills, hospital fees, electricity, broadband, bus fares. Almost everything you can think of; so why not the TV licence?” she asked.
Forbes said the licence fee of €160 was good value for money, with Irish households getting all of RTÉ services, TV, radio and online, for 44 cent per day.
“If the TV licence fee had kept in pace with inflation since it was last raised as it was supposed to do in line with legislation, the TV licence fee would be €175 per household per year or 47 cent per day. Just over a quarter of the cost of a national broadsheet newspaper per day,” she said.
She explained that change alone would bring in an extra €15 million to RTÉ.
‘Broken’
The director general said the TV licence fee system is “fundamentally broken” and is preventing the station for long-term planning.
She said failure to reform the system means that those that pay the fee are now subsidising those that don’t.
“Sensible” and “achievable” reforms, which she said have been carried out in other jurisdictions, will ensure the survival of quality broadcasting.
This is not the first time Forbes has called for changes in the fee. In May she said it should be doubled.
However, last year, Communications Minister Denis Naughten confirmed to TheJournal.ie that there will be no increase to the TV licence fee at this time.
The licence fee has not increased since 2008.
However, Naughten does have plans to tackle the high number of people who are evading the fee, an issue which Forbes raised in committee this evening.
Evasion
While the rate has fallen from 15.3% at the end of 2013 to the current rate of 13.75%, it is still very high, according to the minister.
In May, government approved a raft of new measures designed to bring in more revenue to finance national and local media organisations.
It’s believed the department is anxious to introduce the new system of TV licence ‘enforcers’ as a similar programme in the UK resulted in a reduction in TV licence fee evasion.
Naughten has said the level of payment evasion has reached “unacceptable levels”.
I am struggling to remember a single thing this government have managed properly.
Apart from their numerous pay rises.
@Andrew Martin: working day and night to legitimise the pay rise for working day and night to legitimise the pay rise.
@Andrew Martin: errrr how about Ireland ranked 20th highest in full vaccinations? And a working tracking app, how about us not going the way of the UK. We ate doing a lot of right things. Sorry to ruin your massive failed whinge
@Paul Furey: Your opinion is in the minority now unfortunately
… People want the country opened up.
@Paul Furey: ha, a tracking app that chewed through battery power and didnt work 100%, 20th while vaccinating a relatively small population and what way are the UK going? Fully open soon and more vaccinated than us?…… I get that you’re pro govt in the majority of your posts but in reality they’ve handled this crisis very poorly on many levels. Poor communication, leaks, conflicting info, not protecting the elderly in the first wave, afraid to lock down initially while watching everyone else lock down(26th in europe to do so), not engaging with heavily impacted sectors, nearly a year in level 5 and not managing the economy through the whole thing, rules that dont make any sense, taking ages to enforce masks for a airborne disease, not making use of rapid testing. And theres prob more.
@Paul Hedderman: the UK also had 50 deaths today, the highest number since April. Do you want that here too?
@Paul Furey: The only thing this inept government can agree on is on how to F..k things up.
@Sam Harms: Adjust for population. Thats like 3 – 4 deaths here…. And they had 6 yesterday. Thats why 7 day moving averages are better stats to look at to get a more accurate picture.
@Paul Hedderman: in the past 7 days they have had 213 deaths
@Sam Harms: thanks sam. Thats an average of 30. This time in their second wave when they had slightly higher daily cases they were getting around 600 deaths a day. Big difference….. Thankful the vaccienes are being rolled out
@Sam Harms: Thanks also for proving my point. 50 is way worse than the 7 day average of 30. 66.6% more infact.
@Paul Hedderman: so you don’t think an average of 30 people a day dying from covid is bad? How many people are you willing to sacrifice?
@Sam Harms: in the UK, no, thats very good in regard to fighting the virus. Thats like 2 people a day here…… Around 2 people die a day here during flu season. Never any restrictions for that and most people go on with their daily lives unaware. While any death is sad for the loved ones humans get sick and die all the time. We live beside viruses and illness every day of our lives, unrestricted pre covid. We’ll get to a stage with covid where we’ll live unrestricted, hopefully limiting deaths as much as possible, but there’ll probably still be deaths. People need to realise that.
Typical..right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing….
@Paul Somers: typical….moaner
@Paul Furey: is ‘whinge’ your favourite word, Paul?
@JedBartlett: He seems to have an extremely limited vocabulary:)
@Paul Furey: i never tire of seeing you whinge about other people whinging.
Do they ever talk to each other before telling the public stuff?
@Ballybough Marcus: no they haven’t the intelligence
Misunderstanding something they are brilliant at
@Keith O Hanlon: Yes exactly, this is what the email says:You can use your certificate to facilitate travel across EU member states during the Covid-19 pandemic and on the actual cert it mentions that this is not a travel document
@Keith O Hanlon: Yes exactly, this is what the email says:You can use your certificate to facilitate travel across EU member states during the Covid-19 pandemic and on the actual cert it mentions that this is not a travel document
@d: Well thats actually a contradiction in terms as they are saying you must have it, or a pcr / antigen test, to travel.
So if you do not receive the covid passport by email having been vaccinated in June, and are flying on the 19th of July…..and there is no call centre no to contact ? you seriously could not make this up….
@Linda Oreilly: Well wouldn’t that be a little bit silly, booking for the very day the restricitions are up? In Ireland. Where nothing runs on time.
@Tom Tom: And its that sort of attitude that contributes to these shortcomings. “Ah shur we’ll be grand” instead of saying get your overpaid asses into gear get it done properly.
@Linda Oreilly: Is it not going to be available on the Covid tracker app as well? You’d have that to show?
@Fiona Fitzgerald: yep I got my Covid Vaccine Passport via email late last night. No more PCR tests!!
All i can think of anytime one of these eejits make a statement is a chant you would here at a foitball match ” You don’t know what you’re doing”
@Derek Lyster: just waiting and hoping for a slight slip up by theGovernment and the Shinners and lefties are out of the woodwork…the rest of us agree that a good job is being done in extreme and unprecedented situations.
@john gavin: I’m neither a Shinner nor a Leftie as you so condescendingly put it. I would just like our vastly overpaid representatives to do their jobs properly. Not try to rush through legislation that has in no way been thought properly through so they can go on holidays. I for one don’t agree that they, have or are, doing a good job.
@Franny Ando: But that’s exactly what a Stalint-Trotskist-Marxist-Lefty-Commie would say!
Seriously though, it self expires in 3 months and they can’t do it the right way anyway because it’s constitutionally *very* sketchy and likely wouldn’t pass muster. They are lucky they have Michael D to sign it tbh. I doubt some of our previous presidents would.
So, yeah, it’s rubbish, but at least it will put itself in the bin in October so I don’t see the need to stress it.
@John Considine: But remember they are also saying it can be extended beyond Oct. So let’s hope it is put in the bin:)
Michael Martin looking a bit unwell these days
Ahh the good old “GANFYD” approach: “Get A Note From Your Doctor”.
Doctor’s notes waste huge amounts of time and aren’t as valuable as most folk believe. Waste of your own money and your doctor’s time in many cases.
We need to move away from this business of medicalising everything. Why would you need a doctor’s note to eat out, go on holiday etc? Surely that’s the Dept of Health’s decision.
Tried to ring the number today as my cert has the wrong name on it. Rang once then disconnected. This happened 10 times. Looks like they’re getting paid not to answer the phone.
The Mrs. Received her cert today but is disappointed that it can’t be laminated due to the glare from the paper which prevents the digital machine from reading the QR code.
So what’s the phone number then ?
I got mine through my gp but at a hse vaccination centre. God only knows if or how I’ll get one. I better call the helpline. Oh no wait, its not set up yet.
Got phizer in a country outside the EU. I wonder will they accept my covid vaccination certificate!
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