Government considering new ways to collect TV licence fee as ‘unacceptable’ fee evasion has resulted in the loss of €40m per annum – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

Government considering new ways to collect TV licence fee as ‘unacceptable’ fee evasion has resulted in the loss of €40m per annum




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The way we pay for our TV licence could be soon set for a change after the Minister for Communications Dennis Naughten confirmed that the government are currently looking at new ways to collect the fee.

It is thought a number of new proposals including collecting the fee through Revenue, are being considered after new figures revealed that 14.6% of the Irish public avoided paying for the license.

Speaking before the Dáil Minister Naughten said the current system is need of an overhaul as the future of public broadcasting is ‘deep trouble’ due to continued losses in revenue.

Mr Naughten revealed that the state is currently losing in the region of €40m per year due to those not paying the fees.

He also pointed out that those who do pay, are effectively paying in the region of €39 to cover the expense of those who refuse to pay.

Although Mr Naughten stated that there has been no increase in the licence fee since 2008, he did reiterate that the primary focus should to restructure the current module in order to claim lost revenue, rather than increase the current fee.

One of the suggestions put forward by the communications minister is that the state should consider setting up a new collection agent for the fee.

It is thought if the new proposals are improved in the Dáil, the collection licence fees would no longer be with An Post.

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