Revenue from TV licences fell by €2.2m in July in the wake of RTÉ controversy

Media Minister Catherine Martin said last week she would monitor renewals and new licences in the light of the fall-off in revenue detected then. Picture: PA

Revenue collected from TV licences has plummeted by €2.2m in the first three weeks of July in the wake of the RTÉ controversy.

New figures show the number of licences issued dropped significantly since the scandal relating to payments made through a barter account to broadcaster Ryan Tubridy emerged last month.

The Department of Media confirmed that 9,279 licences were issued in the third week of July, a 37% drop on the same period last year.

So far in July, the total number of new licences and renewals is down from 43,249 last year, to 29,442 in 2023.

Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin said the drop of 13,807 translates to more than €2.2m in lost revenue, which he pointed out is “roughly the equivalent of the losses on Toy Show: The Musical”.

“These figures clearly demonstrate that a trend has now been established where a significant proportion of the population is not renewing their licences or getting a new licence,” he said.

“The ordinary hard-working employees of RTÉ and the many independent workers in the sector need to know how this problem is going to be addressed.”

Media Minister Catherine Martin last week said she will be closely monitoring both renewals and new licences issued to see whether or not the drop-off is “just an initial quick reaction to the controversy”.

She said she will be waiting until September to get a clearer view of licence fee payment trends before making any decisions around any extra funding that RTÉ may require.

RTÉ has been engulfed in controversy since it admitted it had underdeclared Mr Tubridy’s earnings by €345,000 from 2017 to 2022.

The figure includes three €75,000 payments received by the former Late Late Show host for proposed public appearances for Renault, as part of a tripartite agreement involving the sponsor, RTÉ and the presenter.

The most controversial aspect of the deal was RTÉ’s decision to underwrite the payments, which effectively resulted in the State broadcaster covering the costs.