Minister begins public consultation on TV licence reform

Life

27 August 2013

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte today published a consultation paper on the introduction of a Public Service Broadcasting Charge (PSBC) to replace the existing television licence.

The proposal is intended to identify new ways of lowering the percentage of viewers who do not pay the TV licence fee and bring so-called ‘cord-cutters’ who have abandoned broadcast TV for Web-based on-demand services.

It is estimated that licence fee evasion represents some €30 million in lost revenue annually for the audio-visual sector.

Speaking on Morning Ireland today, the Minister said there were no plans to increase the licence fee but his department would be willing to discuss lowering it depending on how much additional revenue the new structure would bring in.

Every home in the country would be liable for the charge regardless of whether they owned a TV or not. The Minister argued that making the fee applicable to all was fair as there were no "cavemen" with no means of receiving a broadcast signal, be it via TV, radio or online.

Special exemptions may also come into place in the hospitality sector where large hotels currently pay the same as small B&Bs, and that owners of a number of B&Bs currently have to pay multiple licenses for each location. Holiday home may also be made exempt from the new charge.

An official statement from the Minister today said: "Public service broadcasting performs a critical role in our society. I consider most people place a value on public service broadcasting in terms of the character of our society and the nature of public discourse. The character of society and the quality of our democracy benefits from genuine public service content. These services provide a common reference point for our culture, language, history and heritage.

"Given the scale of TV Licence evasion and the swiftly changing way we experience audio-visual content, it is important to ensure the continued health of public service broadcasting by placing it on a sound financial footing. Replacing the current licencing system with the PSB Charge will ensure an efficient and sustainable funding model for this public service into the future."

The consultation will run for eight weeks from 26 August to 7 October and is available at: http://www.dcenr.gov.ie/Broadcasting.

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