Why should we pay licence fee for a TV set that’s not receiving RTÉ?

THE TV licence in Ireland is simply a method to raise tax so that a percentage of RTÉ’s costs can be offset by the public purse.

In return for paying this tax, you get the semi publicly-funded national broadcaster. It is not a bad deal as RTÉ provides a very good service and, channel for channel, stands up well against most other stations from abroad.

However, the latest move from the authorities should raise eyebrows. They are proposing to make it the law that the ownership of an actual television should incur this tax whether RTÉ is being received by that TV set or not.