TV licence system 'utterly broken', RTÉ boss to tell TDs

Dee Forbes, the State broadcaster’s director-general, is expected to tell the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday that the “core structural funding problems” of Irish publicly-funded media are not only still present, but  “deteriorating quickly”. Picture: Maxwell Photography

The head of RTÉ is set to warn politicians tomorrow that the TV licence fee system is “utterly broken” and Irish public broadcasters are currently losing an estimated €65m annually.

Dee Forbes, the State broadcaster’s director-general, is expected to tell the Public Accounts Committee on Thursday that the “core structural funding problems” of Irish publicly-funded media are not only still present, but  “deteriorating quickly”.

In an appearance before the committee, delayed from last November due to Ms Forbes’s “very busy schedule” at the time, the broadcasting chief is set to say that “RTÉ cannot continue to deliver its remit for the people of Ireland without adequate public funding”.

While RTÉ made a profit of €7m in 2020, most of that was attributable to cost-cutting measures it had implemented.

“RTÉ has highlighted, for many years, that the licence fee system on which Ireland’s national public service media is reliant, is utterly broken,” Ms Forbes will tell the PAC.

She will highlight that licence fee evasion reached more than 15% in 2020, leading to a loss of “over €30m” in funding. The number of ‘no-tv’ homes now stands at 15.1% of households, leading to an estimated further loss of €35m.

A briefing document prepared for the PAC criticises the fact that the licence fee “has not been adjusted to inflation in 13 years, notwithstanding the rising costs of broadcast rights”.

“RTÉ is therefore trying to future-proof an organisation based on historical estimates of required income,” that document states.

An Oireachtas committee on the future funding of public service broadcasting recommended in November 2017 that the licence fee be replaced by a household-based broadcasting charge.

RTÉ has told the PAC that, on foot of a recommendation from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland in 2018 that funding be increased by €30m per year, “increased level of public funding recommended should be available to the broadcaster immediately”. Otherwise, RTÉ may be unable “to return to a stable financial position” or to “reinvent itself for future generations”.

Meanwhile, RTÉ has acknowledged that a Department of Social Protection review of the employment status of its contract employees has now been expanded to 500 individuals, rather than the expected 79. That review is due to conclude next year.

The broadcaster declined to clarify if its employees, should they be deemed to have been incorrectly labelled as freelance workers, will have employment benefits previously denied to them - such as pension contributions and holiday or maternity pay - paid in arrears.

"RTÉ recognises and respects the statutory process which is under way, and it would be inappropriate to comment further on this process at this time," a spokesperson said.