Will there be a change in the licence fee?

Communications minister Pat Rabbitte declares that he ‘can live with’ a reduction of €5m paid by the Department of Social Protection to RTÉ in respect of ‘free’ television licences provided as a component of the household benefits package.

At the same time he is threatening to propose that 65,000 households who do not possess a television set would pay a household-based broadcasting charge of €160 to compensate for the €25m that An Post fail to collect as a consequence of widespread television licence fee evasion.

Last year we saw reports that An Post distributed 410,000 ‘free’ television licences. If the total subsidy paid in respect of these by the Department of Social Protection is now to be capped at €54m, or the equivalent of €130 per television licence, does Minister Rabbitte intend to reduce the cost of the television licence from €160 to €130?