TV licence fee revenue down €58m after RTÉ payment scandal, new figures show

Before the scandals, between July 2021 and June 2023, some 1.9m people paid the €160 annual fee, resulting in revenue of €306m. Picture: Andy Gibson

TV licence fee revenue has decreased by over €58m in the last two years.

New figures confirm that revenue from the licence plummeted following a range of financial scandals engulfing RTÉ in the summer of 2023, which sparked a wave of non-payments. 

Before the scandals, between July 2021 and June 2023, some 1.9m people paid the €160 annual fee, resulting in revenue of €306m.

This included 1.7m people who renewed the licence, as well as 243,179 first-time purchases.

However, figures for the two-year period after the RTÉ controversies, between July 2023 and June 2025, reveal revenue decreased by €58.4m compared to the previous two years.

Some 1.55m people paid the licence fee, a decrease of more than 365,0000 people. 

This resulted in revenue of €247.6m, a decrease of 19% compared to the preceding two years.

There has, however, been a slight increase in the number of people paying the fee since the Government announced a new funding arrangement for RTÉ on July 24, 2024.

Between July 2022 and June 2023, some 947,999 paid the €160 fee. 

This fell to 761,762 payments between July 2023 and June 2024.

In the last 12 months, the number of licences bought increased to 785,595. 

However, this is still 17% below the pre-scandal levels.

This year to date, some 376,140 people have paid the licence fee.

Figures for the two-year period after the RTÉ controversies, between July 2023 and June 2025, reveal revenue decreased by €58.4m compared to the previous two years. Picture: Colin Keegan

The figures were provided to Fine Gael TD Micheál Carrigy following a parliamentary question to media minister Patrick O’Donovan. 

The RTÉ scandals included revelations that former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy was paid €345,000 over six years that had not been declared by RTÉ in its annual declaration of top-paid stars’ salaries.

It later transpired that money had been paid to Mr Tubridy as part of a three-year “side deal” that would see Renault pay him €75,000 per year. 

They pulled out of the agreement after the first year, with RTÉ paying the remaining €150,000.

Subsequent Oireachtas committee hearings heard of extravagant spending at RTÉ, including €5,000 on flip-flops, memberships to swanky London clubs, and a failed musical based on The Late Late Toy Show.

Mr O’Donovan has reconvened the interdepartmental technical working group (TWG) on the TV licence to “examine potential enhancements to the television licence”.

“I will consider the report of the TWG when I receive it and decide the next steps,” he added.

It was reported last month that the number of people being taken to court or prosecuted for non-payment had dropped.

In 2022, An Post made 13,709 summons applications for non-payment and pursued 7,263 court cases. 

There were 13,198 summons applications and 6,555 court cases in 2023.

However, last year this fell to 12,229 summons applications and 5,392 court cases.

The Government announced plans last year to provide RTÉ with €725m in funding over three years.

Media minister Catherine Martin confirmed that the TV licence would remain in place, with the State providing top-up funding to ensure that RTÉ had a certain amount of ring-fenced funding each year.