The Minister for Communications recently announced he is to introduce a new ‘household broadcasting charge’ or ‘entertainment charge’ for every home in the country.
Under the new plan, anyone who views television – whether on a TV set, computer or smartphone – would be liable to pay the levy, which is to be collected with the new household charge.
The proposed new charge, the Minister added is aimed at reversing the €25m annual loss which the national broadcaster is incurring in licence fee payments due to evasion. Speaking in the Dáil, Minister Pat Rabbitte said that the new levy would replace the TV licence, and that current licence payers would face no additional charge.
While we do not encourage anyone who has a TV to evade payment of the TV licence, we strongly believe that assuming all homes have a computer or similar device to watch TV is ridiculous.
At the same time, RTÉ already generates a lot of income, unlike its competitors (how else does it pay its over-salaried presenters?). Moreover, the broadcaster doesn’t serve the full interests of the public, and ignores some sections of society.
Take diversity as an example: over 12 per cent of the population of Ireland have immigrant background, yet RTÉ does not reflect this rich diversity in content or staffing. Where, then, is its public service ethos?
Rather than ripping people off in order to sustain a failing institution, the minister should instead be ordering an immediate overhaul of RTÉ to make it accountable.
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