Licence fee evasion crackdown but no broadcasting charge

The Government will not replace the television licence fee with a household-based broadcasting charge until it has "built public understanding and support for such a move," Minister for Communications Alex White has said.

Mr White also signalled his intention to bring forward previously mooted legislation that will allow An Post to access the customer data held by commercial television platform operators such as Sky and UPC. The move is designed to tackle licence fee evasion.

A review of RTÉ’s assets, including its Montrose campus in Donnybrook, will be undertaken, the Minister revealed. This follows a recommendation by semi-state consultants NewERA that “a robust analysis of options regarding the site in Donnybrook” should be carried out.

The Minister's remarks came as he published two broadcasting sector reports commissioned in 2013: NewERA's review of RTÉ's operational efficiency and a separate report into the Irish advertising market by consultancy firm Indecon.

The NewERA report shows that RTÉ has reduced its costs to the point where they are "in the middle range" of comparable European public service broadcasters. However, it notes that 20 per cent of the physical site in Donnybrook is "presently undeveloped" and should be explored as a possible source of funding.

NewERA stops short of recommending that specific RTÉ services be cut or axed. But it recommends that if there were to be any further cost reductions, they should be targeted on services that might otherwise be provided commercial operators, rather than services such as Raidió na Gaeltachta, Lyric FM or the orchestras.

RTÉ’s dependency on public funding has increased in recent years, following a collapse in the advertising market.

However, the current rate of licence fee evasion is estimated to be above 15 per cent, with the loss of more than €25 million to broadcasters - mainly RTÉ - each year. Some 79 per cent of licence fee revenues - or almost €127 from each €160 licence fee - is used by RTÉ for its activities.

Mr White said cracking down on evasion was “a matter of fairness” to those who were paying.

“The vast majority of Irish citizens are making their contribution to the costs of quality public service broadcasting by paying their licence fee. But a significant minority continues to enjoy the benefits while expecting others to pay their share.”

Proposals to oblige Sky, UPC and other commercial television platform providers to share customer information with An Post was brought to Cabinet by Mr White's predecessor Pat Rabbitte last July.

Mr White said the legislation would give An Post access to the data “solely for its statutory functions in relation to licence fee collection” and would not be used for any other purpose.

The Minister also said he would “revert to Government” with proposals to amend the framework of rules governing the amount of advertising that public and commercial broadcasters can each carry.

Competition has intensified in the television industry and RTÉ is “likely to continue to lose market share”, the Indecon report concluded. Its ability to secure a high premium on advertising rates “will to some extent be eroded over time”.

Other domestic television broadcasters would benefit if the volume of advertising on RTÉ were to be further restricted, Indecon says. However, Mr White’s statement highlighted its finding that lowering RTÉ’s permitted advertising minutage would also result in “further leakage” of revenues to overseas broadcasters.

The Government will “continue to engage” with the board and management of RTÉ “to ensure that the broadcaster retains the capacity to deliver on its public service remit”, the Minister added.

But the proposed public service broadcasting charge, which RTÉ management had hoped would generate more funding and bring greater security to its finances, will “not be possible with the lifetime of this Government”, he confirmed. This announcement is not a surprise, as Mr Rabbitte postponed the charge, which had been pencilled in for January 2015, before he left office last year.