Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe warned that the government would not be able to fully cover the funding gap for RTÉ if license fees continued to fall, reports The Mirror.
Suggestions that the national broadcaster may need funding have mounted in recent days as newly released figures show the number of people paying a €160 subscription has dropped.
The number of TV license purchases in the first week of July fell by 27% compared to the same period last year. In the second week of the month, it fell further to 31%.
While government assistance has not been ruled out, ministers said RTÉ’s situation will be monitored before any decision is taken.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Minister Donohoe warned that the government would not be able to match the amount earned from royalties.
“We already have a recommendation from the Commission on the Future of Media here in Ireland regarding how we support RTÉ. I know Minister Martin will be bringing that forward to me and has already talked about the importance of it. I will work with her in relation to that. I’m seeing a lot of debate at the moment in relation to the television licence. The television licence brings in around half of RTÉ’s total income every year,” reports The Mirror.
“[It is falling off] for reasons we all understand. But there’s nothing any Government will ever be able to do that will take the place of €200m of funding each year, which we pay through our television licence, to support the enormously important concept of public service broadcasting and RTÉ. I’ll engage with Minister Martin on how we support RTÉ later on in the year. But the television licence is a vital way now and in the future of how we support work here,” he added, reports The Mirror.
In the second week of July, 7,677 people renewed their driving licenses. This is down from 10,782
In the second week of July 2022, 10,783 renewals were made. This year it has dropped to 7,677.
Similarly, the number of new licenses issued decreased from 2,198 to 1,245.
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