TV licence cheats warned

PAY up or get caught — that was the message An Post sent yesterday to an estimated 157,000 householders who do not have television licences.

An Post doubled to 100 the number of inspectors and computer staff who targeted defaulters in the past year and this led to a big increase in the number of prosecutions.

"We had 6,000 successful prosecutions last year because we visited more flats and rented houses and apartments where people tend to move on without paying licences," An Post's spokesman said.

First-time defaulters face a fine of €635 and anyone with a second conviction will be fined €1,000. An Post is contracted to collect the licence fee for RTÉ, which recorded a €35.43 million deficit last year.

It is estimated that €16.8 million is owed in unpaid licence fees, and that is why the national broadcaster has launched a radio and TV campaign to encourage more people to pay up.

An Post exceeded its target of TV licence collections last year its aim was to issue 1.145 million TV licences, but by the end of the year it had issued 1.167 million.

This was partly due to the fact that after the licence fee increase of €45 was sanctioned last November people were given a month to buy their licence at the old price before it went up to €150 in January this year. And 18,000 people availed of this offer. "We have improved our data base considerably, so that anyone who ever held a licence is known to us and even if they move house we can track them down," said An Post's spokesman said. The TV licence inspectors visited 300,000 households last year and they plan to increase this substantially before the end of the year.

An Post does not believe that the dearer licence fee has led to an increase in defaulters.

"By any standards, it is very good value at just around 41c a day," its spokesman said.

Even with the increase, the TV licence here is still one of the cheapest in Europe. It accounts for a third of RTÉ's total income the rest is generated from their advertising and commercial activities.

But RTÉ had a loss of about €35.4 million last year €15m above what was expected and that is why it was lobbying so hard for a licence fee increase.

"We welcomed the major increase in the licence fee that was sanctioned last year, but it was needed to help RTÉ continue its obligation as a public service broadcaster," its spokeswoman said.

RTÉ lost its entire cash reserves in a redundancy scheme that cost the station €100m, and one of the main tasks of new director general Cathal Goan is to turn the fortunes of the national broadcaster around.

The estimated €16.8m owed in unpaid licence fees would go a long way towards helping RTÉ get out of the red and clear its deficit this year.

A licence can be purchased through LoCall 1890 228 528 and at http://www.billpay.ie by using a credit card or at any post office.