Licence fee hike is necessary to allow RTÉ to do its job properly

DOES RTÉ need a licence fee increase? Yes, it does. Can we afford to pay one? We can’t afford not to. Should we see an increase as another one of the “stealth taxes” that seem to be a feature of our lives these days? No.

Public service broadcasting is a special case this increase is long overdue.

When the Forum on Broadcasting was set up, under the chairmanship of the extremely careful Maurice O'Connell, its terms of reference categorically excluded "issues specifically related to the adequacy or otherwise of the current RTÉ licence fee". It made the job of assessing the importance and survival of public service broadcasting all the harder. But knowing the personnel on the forum, most people would have expected them to stick to the brief. We thought we would have to read between the lines to find any reference to the licence fee.

Yet there it is, bold as brass, in two specific recommendations: "The licence fee should be reviewed with the objective of establishing a base on which RTÉ can move forward to meet its public service broadcasting remit. The Government should ensure through a series of adjustments over defined periods that the value of the new licence fee will not be eroded."

And: "In making recommendations to the Government in relation to the licence fee, the minister should have regard to the level of public funding required for RTÉ to fulfil its public service broadcasting obligations as well as to the maintenance of a balance between RTÉ's revenues from commercial and public sources."

In other words, it should be increased now, should be indexed for the future, and it should be enough to enable RTÉ to do its job without too much reliance on commercial revenue.

That's precisely what RTÉ, and anyone who cares about public service broadcasting, has been saying for a long time. The argument was ignored by the last Government, and since then there has been a real and deepening crisis around the future of public broadcasting.

Public service broadcasting, independent and strong, is one of the cornerstones of democracy. It is as important as an independent judiciary, a free press, an uncorrupted legislature, a strong and articulate opposition. A government that is prepared to see public service broadcasting wither on the vine is prepared to see democracy undermined too. And public service broadcasting is under pressure. We mightn't notice we mightn't even miss it until it's gone.

The threat to public service broadcasting has never been greater just as the service it provides to the people of Ireland has never been more extensive. For many years, RTÉ has served the people of Ireland well, in a whole variety of ways, some obvious and some less so. It is the prime source of news for most of us and it is trusted by the people to deliver news and current affairs that is both independent and fair. But we saw in the FAI deal with Sky how easily things we take for granted can be removed from us. Now we know that most of the key sporting moments we treasure could be taken away from us, to be sold back on a match-by-match basis.

The importance of public service broadcasting lies precisely in the fact that it is there for everybody and not just those who have money.

Imagine a situation where it wasn't just football, or even the whole of televised sport, that migrated to commercial and ultimately pay-per-view channels. Suppose you could never watch a movie without paying an additional subscription? Suppose news bulletins ended up being owned by a wealthy magnate, with no choice available? What road do you think we'd be heading down in that situation? Of course, it's not enough that the public service broadcaster has access to the worthy but dull stuff, and the forum report recognises this. As a public service broadcaster, RTÉ must also be our entertainer. It must have the resources to buy and show the West Wing, Friends, first-run movies and world class music.

That doesn't mean we should be giving RTÉ a blank cheque and the forum hasn't offered them one. Key sections of the forum's report deal with the whole issue of accountability. It is an interesting issue. Most companies have a level of responsibility to customers, staff, suppliers, and so on, but their ultimate accountability is to their owners. RTÉ is owned by its audience, and that makes it different. Every time we complain about the quality of RTÉ programmes, or make some allegation of bias against RTÉ, we are complaining about a company in which we are the customers and the shareholders. RTÉ's obligation is to us to make programmes for us and about us, to entertain and inform us. And to be financially viable for us too as shareholders, we have a right to expect that the company will be well-managed and won't be wasting our precious resources.

We don't own TV3 or Today FM or the other commercial radio stations that broadcast all around the country and that do a very good job, a lot of the time, in reflecting the community in which they operate. Those stations owe their primary obligation to their shareholders, just like in the case of RTÉ. But in the case of the commercial stations, the shareholders are not us.

In essence, it boils down to what a senior RTÉ person said once commercial stations make programmes for profit. RTÉ must make profit for programmes.

Because we fund RTÉ, at least in part, we have an absolute right to see that it is regulated in all our interests. That's why RTÉ must welcome, and work with, the case made by the forum for a single regulator, to replace both the regulatory aspects of the RTÉ Authority and those of the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland (BCI).

There may be a serious problem here, however. The BCI was set up for a specific purpose to promote the development of commercial radio and television. In other words, it's primary purpose has been to develop the competition to RTÉ. The principal role of a new regulator will be to promote competition within the overall broadcasting environment, levelling the playing field for everyone. To achieve that, the new regulator (which will be called the BAI) must be totally independent of the old BCI. If I spent 10 years giving radio stations the licences to operate, and encouraging them to compete with RTÉ in every way possible, I don't think that I would be considered the most appropriate person to ensure that RTÉ was getting a fair crack of the whip in competitive terms! Over the next few months, the Government will have a lot on its plate.

They may well be tempted to sweep under the carpet any issue they don't have to deal with right now. Where the licence fee is concerned, that temptation must be resisted. We mightn't like having to pay it, but most of know in our hearts that RTÉ needs an increase now.

Let's by all means demand more value for money. But let's not allow our national broadcaster to starve to death. We need it too much.