LAST UPDATE | 24 Jul

HOUSEHOLDS COULD BE hit with fixed penalty notices if they don’t pay their TV licences within a “set period”.

Media Minister Catherine Martin today spoke at a press conference about the future of RTÉ – the national broadcaster is to receive €225 million in public funding next year, and €725 million over the next three.

Martin said the “multi-annual” model of public funding and a combination of TV licence receipts will provide increased funding to meet the needs of RTÉ’s new strategy.

When asked how she will ensure that TV licence fees are collected, Martin noted that “20% of the current database” used by An Post “is anonymous and there is not a proper use of Eircodes”.

An Post collects TV licences and will receive an additional €6 million of funding over the next three years to improve collection rates and invest in a new database and data management system.

Martin said she has asked that the Technical Working Group established to examine the reform of the TV licence to be re-convened to further consider and assess the improvements and enhancements which are required.

“We need to look at modernising that data management system,” said Martin, who added that the new database will “enable us to better determine who the occupants are and to ensure who should pay”.

“The fixed penalty notice is provided for at the moment,” said Martin, “but we are looking to it as an alternative to issuing a court summons.

“The problem at the minute is that because of those anonymous households, a fixed penalty notice can’t be issued right now.

“So it could be that you get a letter to pay your TV licence and within a set period, if you haven’t paid, there’s a fixed penalty notice.”

Martin said the Government would also “look at the potential of a statutory exemption declaration” and that this would better guide TV license inspections.

“You’d have to fill out a statutory declaration to say, ‘I do not have a TV,’ and maybe they are the households that would be inspected, rather than going into every single household.”

In a statement to The Journal, An Post said it welcomes “this clarity around the future of the TV Licence” as it is an “important part of our business”.   

“We are pleased that a number of suggestions that An Post has been making for many years around modernising processes and expanding the tools available to us are finally being taken on board,” added An Post in a statement. 

TV license sales dropped by 13% last year, from 947,924 in 2022 to 824,278 in 2023.

In the first half of this year, sales also declined by 14% when compared to the same period in 2023, but since the beginning of July, sales have increased by 18%.