THE PROPOSED new household broadcasting charge will not be introduced until 2014 “at the earliest” because of the work required to develop a collection system, the Department of Communications has confirmed.
The proposal by Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte to introduce the new charge to replace the television licence fee received a guarded welcome yesterday from the broadcasting sector.
RTÉ, TV3 and the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland all reacted positively to the proposal but Opposition politicians were critical. Sinn Féin claimed it was nonsensical and ill-thought-out, while Fianna Fáil said it made sense only if the levy on individual homes was reduced.
RTÉ said it welcomed any plans that helped to sustain the funding base for public media. “While licence fee collection has not been a matter for RTÉ we recognise that evasion is inherently unfair to the vast majority of the public who are contributors to this funding resource; so any method which reduces that is necessarily fairer and more equitable,” a spokesman said.
Mr Rabbitte hinted the new charge could be less than the current TV licence fee of €160.
“Clearly if there is evasion at the moment and if I can put together a public broadcasting charge that is more effective then I think it won’t be more than the existing TV licence . . . but it could be less.”
The decision to introduce the charge follows a review by the department of the situation in 17 other countries. This focused on Germany, Finland, Iceland and Switzerland, which are developing a household-based charge to protect public service broadcasting.
Pensioners and other social welfare recipients who currently don’t have to pay the licence fee will continue to be exempt. The department is unable to say at this stage whether the new charge would apply to holiday homes, granny flats, etc.
The proposal relates purely to the manner in which monies are collected, the department said, though the programme for Government contains a separate commitment to review funding for public and independent broadcasters.
A spokesman stressed the charge would not be “device-dependent”, so issues around broadband quality would not affect the requirement to pay it. Asked whether households that accessed content only through a smartphone would have to pay, he said it would be levied on all eligible households and businesses, regardless of the manner in which public service content was accessed.
Mr Rabbitte said difficulties in establishing a suitable database of households in the country means it would be “ambitious” to say the new charge would be in “place for next year”.
The existing system and the efficacy of collection had to be examined because of changes in technology and the continued evasion of the TV licence, Mr Rabbitte added.
“A huge number of the population now get their news not from sitting down and watching the nine o’clock news but accessing the arrangements that the public service broadcaster has put in place.
“There is and continues to be significant evasion – anywhere between 14 and 18 per cent or in excess of €25 million in lost revenue – from failure to collect from people who do have a television but don’t pay the existing licence.” He said anyone who currently pays their existing licence had “nothing to fear”.
He said proposals would have to be sent to the Attorney General to make sure they are legally suitable.
