Television licensing in the Republic of Ireland
Encyclopedia
In the Republic of Ireland
, a television licence
is required for any address at which there is a television
set. In 2008, the annual licence fee is €
160. Revenue is collected by An Post
, the Irish postal service. The bulk of the fee is used to fund Raidió Teilifís Éireann
(RTÉ), the state broadcaster. The licence must be paid for any premises that has any equipment that can potentially decode TV signals, even those that are not RTÉ's. The licence is free to anyone over the age of 70, some over 66, some Social Welfare recipients, and the blind
. The fee for the licences of such beneficiaries is paid for by the state. The current governing legislation is the Broadcasting Act 2009, in particular Part 9 "Television Licence" and Chapter 5 "Allocation of Public Funding to RTÉ and TG4". Devices which stream television via internet
do not need licenses, nor do small portable devices such as mobile phones.
s (in person or by post), or by using a credit card
or debit card
via a call centre
or via the internet
. An Post receives commission to cover the cost of its collection service. As of 2004, An Post had signalled its intention to withdraw from the business.
An Post maintains a database of addresses and uses this to inspect suspected cases of non-payment. Television dealers are required to supply details of people buying or renting televisions; this is no longer enforced as details supplied were unreliable. There is no obligation on cable and satellite providers to supply details of subscribers.
Inspectors, who are An Post employees, visit the premises to verify if TV receiving equipment is present. If speedy payment of the licence is not made following an inspection, court proceedings are commenced by An Post. In 2002, the rate of licence-fee evasion was estimated at 12%. In the Dublin region in that year, approximately 21% of detected evaders were summonsed for prosecution (6,000 cases); approximately one third of these cases resulted in fines, averaging €174. Only 4% of fined evaders followed up three months later had purchased a licence.
In 2010, the Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee that the evasion rate was estimated at 12%, and the renewed contract with An Post would include provision for a 1 percentage point
annual decrease in this.
s on its radio and TV stations. RTÉ also sells programming to other broadcasting. Some RTÉ services, such as RTÉ 2fm
, RTÉ Aertel
, rte.ie
, and the transmission network
operate on an entirely commercial basis.
The licence fee does not entirely go to RTÉ. Expenses first deducted include the cost of collection (paid to An Post).
5% of the balance is used for the BCI's "Sound and Vision Scheme", which provides a fund for programme production and restoration of archive material which is open to applications from any quarter. TG4
does not obtain licence fee revenue directly, but does so indirectly as RTÉ is required to provide it with one hour's programming per day, as well as other technical support. RTÉ's accounts express the cost of this as a percentage of its licence fee income, amounting to 5.3% in 2006. The remainder of TG4's funding is direct state grants and commercial income. The 2009 McCarthy Report, commissioned in response to a growing economic crisis, recommended that €10m of TG4's funding should in future come from licence fee revenue; without increasing the fee, this would entail a matching reduction in RTÉ's funding. This reduction is included in the government budget
introduced in December 2010.
The RTÉ Authority was replaced by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
which regulates both private and public broadcasters. It is not directly funded from the licence fee; however RTÉ, in common with other broadcasters, pays a levy to the Authority for its services.
It is opposed for being outdated in a world with an increasing variety of TV channels and audio-visual technologies. Commercial television companies have alleged that RTÉ unfairly uses licence fee to outbid them for broadcast rights to foreign films, TV series, and sports events. RTÉ denies this. European Community competition law prevents state funding of commercial activity, and RTÉ's accounts charge for non-"public service
" programming out of its commercial income rather than its licence fee subsidy.
The licence is condemned as a regressive tax
, where the majority of prosecutions are of people on low incomes.
The high cost of collection is presented as inefficient. Licence inspectors' calling to people's doors is seen as intrusive. The low rate of prosecution of non-payers is seen as allowing evaders a "free ride". Alternative funding methods suggested include direct funding from general exchequer revenues, or a levy
on electricity
bills on the model of Cyprus
.
A licence is required per address, rather than per person or per set. It has been considered unfair that the same licence fee applies to a single private dwelling as to a large commercial address, such as a hotel or a privately-owned business park. In 2003, there was negative comment after a crackdown on unlicenced television sets at holiday homes, and proposals for a reduced-rate licence for seldom-occupied premises.
RTÉ journalists largely support the existence of the licence, and lobby for greater increases in the fee, as being a revenue stream independent of the government and thus guaranteeing freedom from political influence and associated editorial bias. The opposite claim has also been made: that an annual review of the licence fee by the Government leaves RTÉ liable to political pressure.
A survey of public attitudes to public-sector broadcasting was carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute
in 2004. The authors noted that "public discontent at the level and inherently regressive nature of the ad rem licence fee is noticeable by its absence, particularly in contrast to the difficulties associated with the introduction of some ad rem service charges, e.g. bin
and water
charges." The associated opinion poll
recorded agree:disagree percentages of 54:29 for the statement "Public Broadcasting should be financed by the licence fee." Respondents were asked what level of monthly fee they would be prepared to pay to receive RTÉ if subscription access were hypothetically to replace the licence fee: the annualised mean
and median
household figures were €180 and €252.60, compared to the then licence fee of €150; those watching more RTÉ programmes were more willing to pay.
in 1904 prior to the creation of the Irish Free State
in 1922. Non-compliance was widespread until the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1926 when the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
was empowered to prosecute those with no licence.
Although before 1962 there was no television licence as such, a television set fell under the definition of "wireless receiver"; thus someone possessing a television but no radio would have needed a wireless licence at the same fee as someone with a radio. Conversely between 1962 and 1972, the possessor of a television licence did not need an additional radio licence.
In 1975, members of Conradh na Gaeilge
, an Irish language
activist group, began campaigning for an Irish-language television station. They adopted tactics learnt from Welsh language
activists of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, including non-payment of the television licence, and non-payment of fines imposed for not having a licence. This campaign of civil disobedience
ended in 1996 with the establishment of Telefís na Gaeilge (now TG4
).
Century Radio
, Ireland's first licensed solely private-sector broadcaster, began broadcasting in 1990. Minister Ray Burke proposed allocating 25% of the television licence revenues to private-sector broadcasters. The government rejected this, but agreed instead to cap RTÉ's advertising income. A tribunal of enquiry later established that Oliver Barry, an investor in Century Radio, had given Burke a political donation of £30,000. The advertising cap was lifted in 1993.
In the mid 1990s, proposals were floated to distribute funding (licence fee income or otherwise) among broadcasters based on content production, on the model of New Zealand
. RTÉ successfully persuaded minister Michael D. Higgins
against such a change; although the Sound & Vision scheme now operated effectively provides this, at a low level. RTÉ provide 5% of the licence fee to the Sound and Vision fund which is managed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
(BAI). RTÉ are required by law to commission independent productions with at least 20% of their total licence and 365 hours of programming a year to TG4.
The definition of television
in the original licensing legislation presumed a wireless radio broadcast receiver, and it is unclear whether it extends to computer
s, internet
devices, 3G mobile phone
s, or other newer technologies. In April 2007, then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey
proposed modernizing the definition to include newer technologies The Oireachtas
Joint Committee
on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources cautioned against too broad a definition:
In 2009, a ministerial order under the 2009 Act explicitly exempted two classes of device from the requirement to have a licence; namely, portable devices with small screens such as 3G phones or PDA
s, and devices accessing streaming video services via the internet
. However, computers with TV tuner card
s are not exempt.
The 2009 Act also provides for on-the-spot fines and civil suits to be used against those not having a television licence, in response to negative views of the previous use of criminal proceedings, including imprisonment.
The Fine Gael–Labour coalition government
formed after the 2011 general election is reviewing the funding of RTÉ, with a view to replacing the licence with a "household charge".
Republic of Ireland
Ireland , described as the Republic of Ireland , is a sovereign state in Europe occupying approximately five-sixths of the island of the same name. Its capital is Dublin. Ireland, which had a population of 4.58 million in 2011, is a constitutional republic governed as a parliamentary democracy,...
, a television licence
Television licence
A television licence is an official licence required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts...
is required for any address at which there is a television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
set. In 2008, the annual licence fee is €
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
160. Revenue is collected by An Post
An Post
An Post is the State-owned provider of postal services in the Republic of Ireland. An Post provides a universal postal service to all parts of the country as a member of the Universal Postal Union...
, the Irish postal service. The bulk of the fee is used to fund Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann
Raidió Teilifís Éireann is a semi-state company and the public service broadcaster of Ireland. It both produces programmes and broadcasts them on television, radio and the Internet. The radio service began on January 1, 1926, while regular television broadcasts began on December 31, 1961, making...
(RTÉ), the state broadcaster. The licence must be paid for any premises that has any equipment that can potentially decode TV signals, even those that are not RTÉ's. The licence is free to anyone over the age of 70, some over 66, some Social Welfare recipients, and the blind
Blindness
Blindness is the condition of lacking visual perception due to physiological or neurological factors.Various scales have been developed to describe the extent of vision loss and define blindness...
. The fee for the licences of such beneficiaries is paid for by the state. The current governing legislation is the Broadcasting Act 2009, in particular Part 9 "Television Licence" and Chapter 5 "Allocation of Public Funding to RTÉ and TG4". Devices which stream television via internet
Internet television
Internet television is the digital distribution of television content via the Internet...
do not need licenses, nor do small portable devices such as mobile phones.
Collection and evasion
An Post is responsible for collection of the licence fee and commencement of prosecution proceedings in cases of non-payment. Licences can be purchased and renewed at post officePost office
A post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
s (in person or by post), or by using a credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
or debit card
Debit card
A debit card is a plastic card that provides the cardholder electronic access to his or her bank account/s at a financial institution...
via a call centre
Call centre
A call centre or call center is a centralised office used for the purpose of receiving and transmitting a large volume of requests by telephone. A call centre is operated by a company to administer incoming product support or information inquiries from consumers. Outgoing calls for telemarketing,...
or via the internet
Electronic commerce
Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, eCommerce or e-comm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. However, the term may refer to more than just buying and selling products online...
. An Post receives commission to cover the cost of its collection service. As of 2004, An Post had signalled its intention to withdraw from the business.
An Post maintains a database of addresses and uses this to inspect suspected cases of non-payment. Television dealers are required to supply details of people buying or renting televisions; this is no longer enforced as details supplied were unreliable. There is no obligation on cable and satellite providers to supply details of subscribers.
Inspectors, who are An Post employees, visit the premises to verify if TV receiving equipment is present. If speedy payment of the licence is not made following an inspection, court proceedings are commenced by An Post. In 2002, the rate of licence-fee evasion was estimated at 12%. In the Dublin region in that year, approximately 21% of detected evaders were summonsed for prosecution (6,000 cases); approximately one third of these cases resulted in fines, averaging €174. Only 4% of fined evaders followed up three months later had purchased a licence.
In 2010, the Secretary General of the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources told the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee that the evasion rate was estimated at 12%, and the renewed contract with An Post would include provision for a 1 percentage point
Percentage point
Percentage points are the unit for the arithmetic difference of two percentages.Consider the following hypothetical example: in 1980, 40 percent of the population smoked, and in 1990 only 30 percent smoked...
annual decrease in this.
Disbursement
TV licence fees make up 50% of the revenue of RTÉ. The bulk of the rest comes from RTÉ broadcasting commercialAdvertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
s on its radio and TV stations. RTÉ also sells programming to other broadcasting. Some RTÉ services, such as RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm
RTÉ 2fm, or 2FM as it is more commonly referred to, is Raidió Teilifís Éireann's second national radio station. It broadcasts popular music programming aimed at a young Irish audience.- History :...
, RTÉ Aertel
RTÉ Aertel
RTÉ Aertel is a teletext service broadcast on RTÉ One and RTÉ Two in the Republic of Ireland, and also available in its entirety on the Internet....
, rte.ie
Rte.ie
RTÉ.ie is the brand name and home of RTÉ's online activities, located at the URL http://rte.ie. The site began publishing on 26 May 1996. According to RTÉ, it operates on an entirely commercial basis, receiving none of the licence fee which funds much of RTÉ's activity. The site, it says, is funded...
, and the transmission network
RTÉ Network Limited
RTÉ Transmission Network Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Raidió Teilifís Éireann which runs Ireland's principal terrestrial television and radio broadcast signal transmission networks. They operate 10 main sites, and over 100 smaller relays and transposers, which carry either television,...
operate on an entirely commercial basis.
The licence fee does not entirely go to RTÉ. Expenses first deducted include the cost of collection (paid to An Post).
5% of the balance is used for the BCI's "Sound and Vision Scheme", which provides a fund for programme production and restoration of archive material which is open to applications from any quarter. TG4
TG4
TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....
does not obtain licence fee revenue directly, but does so indirectly as RTÉ is required to provide it with one hour's programming per day, as well as other technical support. RTÉ's accounts express the cost of this as a percentage of its licence fee income, amounting to 5.3% in 2006. The remainder of TG4's funding is direct state grants and commercial income. The 2009 McCarthy Report, commissioned in response to a growing economic crisis, recommended that €10m of TG4's funding should in future come from licence fee revenue; without increasing the fee, this would entail a matching reduction in RTÉ's funding. This reduction is included in the government budget
Government budget
A government budget is a legal document that is often passed by the legislature, and approved by the chief executive-or president. For example, only certain types of revenue may be imposed and collected...
introduced in December 2010.
The RTÉ Authority was replaced by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland was established on 1 October 2009 effectively replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland ....
which regulates both private and public broadcasters. It is not directly funded from the licence fee; however RTÉ, in common with other broadcasters, pays a levy to the Authority for its services.
Criticism
The licence has been criticised both in principle and as regards its implementation.It is opposed for being outdated in a world with an increasing variety of TV channels and audio-visual technologies. Commercial television companies have alleged that RTÉ unfairly uses licence fee to outbid them for broadcast rights to foreign films, TV series, and sports events. RTÉ denies this. European Community competition law prevents state funding of commercial activity, and RTÉ's accounts charge for non-"public service
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...
" programming out of its commercial income rather than its licence fee subsidy.
The licence is condemned as a regressive tax
Regressive tax
A regressive tax is a tax imposed in such a manner that the tax rate decreases as the amount subject to taxation increases. "Regressive" describes a distribution effect on income or expenditure, referring to the way the rate progresses from high to low, where the average tax rate exceeds the...
, where the majority of prosecutions are of people on low incomes.
The high cost of collection is presented as inefficient. Licence inspectors' calling to people's doors is seen as intrusive. The low rate of prosecution of non-payers is seen as allowing evaders a "free ride". Alternative funding methods suggested include direct funding from general exchequer revenues, or a levy
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
on electricity
Electricity
Electricity is a general term encompassing a variety of phenomena resulting from the presence and flow of electric charge. These include many easily recognizable phenomena, such as lightning, static electricity, and the flow of electrical current in an electrical wire...
bills on the model of Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...
.
A licence is required per address, rather than per person or per set. It has been considered unfair that the same licence fee applies to a single private dwelling as to a large commercial address, such as a hotel or a privately-owned business park. In 2003, there was negative comment after a crackdown on unlicenced television sets at holiday homes, and proposals for a reduced-rate licence for seldom-occupied premises.
RTÉ journalists largely support the existence of the licence, and lobby for greater increases in the fee, as being a revenue stream independent of the government and thus guaranteeing freedom from political influence and associated editorial bias. The opposite claim has also been made: that an annual review of the licence fee by the Government leaves RTÉ liable to political pressure.
A survey of public attitudes to public-sector broadcasting was carried out by the Economic and Social Research Institute
Economic and Social Research Institute
The Economic and Social Research Institute is a think tank in Dublin, Ireland. Its research focuses on Ireland's economic and social development in order to inform policy-making and societal understanding....
in 2004. The authors noted that "public discontent at the level and inherently regressive nature of the ad rem licence fee is noticeable by its absence, particularly in contrast to the difficulties associated with the introduction of some ad rem service charges, e.g. bin
Waste collection
Waste collection is the component of waste management which results in the passage of a waste material from the source of production to either the point of treatment or final disposal...
and water
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
charges." The associated opinion poll
Opinion poll
An opinion poll, sometimes simply referred to as a poll is a survey of public opinion from a particular sample. Opinion polls are usually designed to represent the opinions of a population by conducting a series of questions and then extrapolating generalities in ratio or within confidence...
recorded agree:disagree percentages of 54:29 for the statement "Public Broadcasting should be financed by the licence fee." Respondents were asked what level of monthly fee they would be prepared to pay to receive RTÉ if subscription access were hypothetically to replace the licence fee: the annualised mean
Arithmetic mean
In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean, often referred to as simply the mean or average when the context is clear, is a method to derive the central tendency of a sample space...
and median
Median
In probability theory and statistics, a median is described as the numerical value separating the higher half of a sample, a population, or a probability distribution, from the lower half. The median of a finite list of numbers can be found by arranging all the observations from lowest value to...
household figures were €180 and €252.60, compared to the then licence fee of €150; those watching more RTÉ programmes were more willing to pay.
History
Television licences were introduced for the establishment of Telefís Éireann (now RTÉ) in 1962. Radio licences, abolished in 1972, had been introduced by the Parliament of the United KingdomParliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
in 1904 prior to the creation of the Irish Free State
Irish Free State
The Irish Free State was the state established as a Dominion on 6 December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty, signed by the British government and Irish representatives exactly twelve months beforehand...
in 1922. Non-compliance was widespread until the Wireless Telegraphy Act of 1926 when the Minister for Posts and Telegraphs
Minister for Posts and Telegraphs (Ireland)
The Minister for Posts and Telegraphs was a senior post in the government of the Irish Free State and the Republic of Ireland from 1924 to 1984, when the post and the department was abolished....
was empowered to prosecute those with no licence.
Although before 1962 there was no television licence as such, a television set fell under the definition of "wireless receiver"; thus someone possessing a television but no radio would have needed a wireless licence at the same fee as someone with a radio. Conversely between 1962 and 1972, the possessor of a television licence did not need an additional radio licence.
In 1975, members of Conradh na Gaeilge
Conradh na Gaeilge
Conradh na Gaeilge is a non-governmental organisation that promotes the Irish language in Ireland and abroad. The motto of the League is Sinn Féin, Sinn Féin amháin .-Origins:...
, an Irish language
Irish language
Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...
activist group, began campaigning for an Irish-language television station. They adopted tactics learnt from Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...
activists of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, including non-payment of the television licence, and non-payment of fines imposed for not having a licence. This campaign of civil disobedience
Civil disobedience
Civil disobedience is the active, professed refusal to obey certain laws, demands, and commands of a government, or of an occupying international power. Civil disobedience is commonly, though not always, defined as being nonviolent resistance. It is one form of civil resistance...
ended in 1996 with the establishment of Telefís na Gaeilge (now TG4
TG4
TG4 is a public service broadcaster for Irish language speakers. The channel has been on-air since 31 October 1996 in the Republic of Ireland and since April 2005 in Northern Ireland....
).
Century Radio
Century Radio
Century Radio, also marketed as Century 100 and later Century FM, was an early short-lived national commercial radio station in Ireland .-Transmission:...
, Ireland's first licensed solely private-sector broadcaster, began broadcasting in 1990. Minister Ray Burke proposed allocating 25% of the television licence revenues to private-sector broadcasters. The government rejected this, but agreed instead to cap RTÉ's advertising income. A tribunal of enquiry later established that Oliver Barry, an investor in Century Radio, had given Burke a political donation of £30,000. The advertising cap was lifted in 1993.
In the mid 1990s, proposals were floated to distribute funding (licence fee income or otherwise) among broadcasters based on content production, on the model of New Zealand
New Zealand On Air
NZ On Air is an independent New Zealand broadcast funding agency. It is an autonomous crown entity separate from central Government and governed by a Board of six appointed by the Minister of Broadcasting...
. RTÉ successfully persuaded minister Michael D. Higgins
Michael D. Higgins
Michael Daniel Higgins is the ninth and current President of Ireland, having taken office on 11 November 2011 following victory in the 2011 Irish presidential election. Higgins is an Irish politician, poet, sociologist, author and broadcaster. Higgins was President of the Labour Party until his...
against such a change; although the Sound & Vision scheme now operated effectively provides this, at a low level. RTÉ provide 5% of the licence fee to the Sound and Vision fund which is managed by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
Broadcasting Authority of Ireland
The Broadcasting Authority of Ireland was established on 1 October 2009 effectively replacing the Broadcasting Commission of Ireland ....
(BAI). RTÉ are required by law to commission independent productions with at least 20% of their total licence and 365 hours of programming a year to TG4.
The definition of television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
in the original licensing legislation presumed a wireless radio broadcast receiver, and it is unclear whether it extends to computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
s, internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
devices, 3G mobile phone
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
s, or other newer technologies. In April 2007, then Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Noel Dempsey
Noel Dempsey
Noel Dempsey is a former Irish Fianna Fáil politician. He was a Teachta Dála for the Meath and Meath West constituencies from 1987 to 2011...
proposed modernizing the definition to include newer technologies The Oireachtas
Oireachtas
The Oireachtas , sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the "national parliament" or legislature of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of:*The President of Ireland*The two Houses of the Oireachtas :**Dáil Éireann...
Joint Committee
Joint committee
A Joint Committee is a term in politics that is used to refer to a committee made up of members of both chambers of a bicameral legislature. In other contexts, it refers to a committee with members from more than one organization.-Republic of Ireland:...
on Communications, Marine and Natural Resources cautioned against too broad a definition:
In 2009, a ministerial order under the 2009 Act explicitly exempted two classes of device from the requirement to have a licence; namely, portable devices with small screens such as 3G phones or PDA
Personal digital assistant
A personal digital assistant , also known as a palmtop computer, or personal data assistant, is a mobile device that functions as a personal information manager. Current PDAs often have the ability to connect to the Internet...
s, and devices accessing streaming video services via the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
. However, computers with TV tuner card
TV tuner card
A TV tuner card is a kind of television tuner that allows television signals to be received by a computer. Most TV tuners also function as video capture cards, allowing them to record television programs onto a hard disk much like the Tivo digital video recorder does.-Variants: The interfaces for...
s are not exempt.
The 2009 Act also provides for on-the-spot fines and civil suits to be used against those not having a television licence, in response to negative views of the previous use of criminal proceedings, including imprisonment.
The Fine Gael–Labour coalition government
Government of the 31st Dáil
The Government of the 31st Dáil is the present Government of Ireland, formed after the 2011 general election to Dáil Éireann on 25 February 2011. Fine Gael entered into discussions with the Labour Party which culminated in a joint programme for government. The 31st Dáil first met on 9 March 2011...
formed after the 2011 general election is reviewing the funding of RTÉ, with a view to replacing the licence with a "household charge".
Licence fee
Increases in the licence fee have been irregular. Only one happened between 1986 and 2001. Recent increases have been essentially index-linked. Section 124 of the 2009 Act enshrines this index-linking in law, although only as a recommendation. The annual licence fees have been as follows:| year | date | television | radio | statute | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| colour | monochrome | ||||
| 2008 | 1 January | € Euro The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,... 160 |
S. I. No. 851/2007 | ||
| 2006 | 1 October | €158 | S.I. No. 404/2006 | ||
| 2005 | 1 April | €155 | S.I. No. 165/2005 | ||
| 2004 | 1 January | €152 | S.I. No. 720/2003 | ||
| 2003 | 1 January | €150 | S.I. No. 608/2002 | ||
| 2002 | 1 January | €107.00 | €84.00 | S.I. No. 396/2001 | |
| 2001 | 1 September | £ Irish pound The Irish pound was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the usual notation was the prefix £... 84.50 (€107.29) |
£66.50 (€84.44) | ||
| 1996 | 1 September | £70 | £52 | S.I. No. 249/1996 | |
| 1986 | 1 March | £62 | £44 | S.I. No. 37/1986 | |
| 1984 | 1 November | £57 | £39 | S.I. No. 248/1984 | |
| 1983 | 1 April | £52 | £34 | S.I. No. 83/1983 | |
| 1980 | 1 December | £45 | £27 | S.I. No. 359/1980 | |
| 1978 | 1 December | £38 | £23 | S.I. No. 319/1978 | |
| 1977 | 1 April | £31 | £18.50 | S.I. No. 76/1977 | |
| 1974 | 1 October | £20 | £12 | S.I. No. 270/1974 | |
| 1973 | 1 October | £15 | £9 | S.I. No. 274/1973 | |
| 1972 | 1 September | £7.50 | abolished | S.I. No. 210/1972 | |
| 1971 | 1 September | £7·50 | £1.50 | S.I. No. 241/1971 | |
| 1970 | 1 July | £6 | £1 10s Irish shilling coin The shilling coin was a subdivision of the pre-decimal Irish pound, worth 1/20 of a pound.The original minting of the coin from 1928 until 1942 contained 75% silver; this Irish coin had a higher content than the equivalent British coin... |
S.I. No. 141/1970 | |
| 1963 | 1 November | £5 | £1 5s | S.I. No. 199/1963 | |
| 1962 | 1 January | £4 | £1 | S.I. No. 279/1961 | |
| 1961 | 1 September | £1 | S.I. No. 174/1961 | ||
| 1953 | 1 April | 17s 6d Irish penny coin The penny coin was the third smallest denomination of the pre-decimal Irish pound, worth 1/240 of a pound or 1/12 of a shilling. To express an amount, penny was abbreviated to "d", e.g. 1d, from the Roman denarius. It was introduced in 1928 to replace its British counterpart, used when all of... |
S.I. No. 55/1953 | ||
| 1940 | 1 June | 12s 6d | S.I. No. 117/1940 | ||
| 1934 | 1 October | 10s | S.I. No. 249/1934 | ||
| 1927 | July 1 | free (blind) | S.I. No. 54/1927 | ||
| 1927 | January 3 | 10s (ordinary); £1 (institutions); £5 (hostels); £1/week (entertainments); £5 (public advertisement) |
S.I. No. 1/1927 | ||
| 1926 | Some time between May 5 and July 6 |
£1 (valve set Valve RF amplifier A valve RF amplifier or tube amplifier , is a device for electrically amplifying the power of an electrical signal, typically radio frequency signals.... ) 10s (crystal set) |
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| 1924 | Some time between May 8 and November 19 |
£1 | |||
| 1922 | July | All licences withdrawn owing to Irish Civil War Irish Civil War The Irish Civil War was a conflict that accompanied the establishment of the Irish Free State as an entity independent from the United Kingdom within the British Empire.... |
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| Until July 1922 | 10s | ||||