13,700 in court for failure to pay TV licence fee

More than 13,700 court cases were brought against people for non-payment of the television licence fee last year.

Almost 21,000 summons applications were made by An Post, which is responsible for collection of the fee on behalf of the Minister for Communications.

Of these, 13,709 proceeded to court, where penalties for non-payment of the €160 charge can include a maximum fine of €1,000 for a first offence and €2,000 for subsequent offences.