Sir, – A new levy is being seriously considered in a bid to ensure people who do not possess a television, but avail of public service broadcasting online, will not be able to avoid paying for the privilege.
Minister for Communications Pat Rabbitte announced that a proposed charge will be imposed on all properties regardless of whether there is a TV present or not, as there is a perception that there are a growing number of people using computers and mobile devices such as iPads and iPhones to watch programmes over the internet.
Government’s persistent efforts to exit Ireland’s current fiscal quagmire will surely evoke numerous other announcements. Perhaps Minister for Transport Dr Leo Varadkar will soon propose replacing the current motor tax with a “movement levy”, thus requiring the current round disc be displayed on wheelchairs, pedal bicycles, hospital trolleys and footwear.
Certainly, Mr Rabbitte’s newly conceived “cash cow” is only the opening shot in the fight to keep Ireland out of the poorhouse. I’m convinced there’s no limit to the revenue-producing possibilities our creative Ministers are bound to dream up. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Pat Rabbitte’s explanation of the proposed public service broadcasting charge seems to have been drafted by someone who places television near the centre of their existence.
Those of us who have consciously rejected the control it exercises over life and conversation in the home tend to draw their information from other services than the RTÉ website.
I suspect, too, that we would all willingly “strip ourselves out” for the Minister by identifying ourselves as people to whom the new charge does not apply.
Yes, I do watch television periodically.
But I do it in the pub when Munster and Ireland are playing and I pay for the privilege. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív (Dáil Report, January 19th) may be referencing outdated statistics if he believes “[o]ther platforms for watching television, such as the iPhone or whatever” are “far-fetched for 99.9 per cent of people”.
He would do well to note that by early 2010 there were already over 250,000 iPhones active in Ireland, which means watching television on iPhones (not to mention other platforms such as laptops which are also present in Ireland) is not farfetched for a larger portion of the population than the 00.1 per cent Deputy Ó Cuív believes know how to access the likes of RTÉ Player, Channel 4 on Demand, Netflix, BBC iPlayer, etc, etc. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – If it walks like a tax, swims like a tax and quacks like a tax, then it probably is a tax. – Yours, etc,