Doherty and Pringle call for TV license abolition

Donegal TDs have called for the TV license to be abolished and replaced with exchequer funding. 

Independent TD Thomas Pringle has said the television license should be scrapped and replaced by Exchequer funding, not “taken from the many families who live paycheck to paycheck. 

“While the TV licence fee may be an afterthought for some, for a lot of people in this country it is yet another bill on top of the many others that they are struggling to pay.

“The expectation for them to pay yet another bill in light of the scandalous waste of money by RTÉ in recent years is a massive slap in the face for people. 

“I can’t understand why the government hasn't taken the opportunity to scrap the licence fee following this and in response to the financial struggle that many households are experiencing. 

“How is it that it is somehow affordable to give every household in the country more than €400 worth of electricity credits, while at the same time unaffordable to scrap a €160 television fee?”

Independent TD Thomas Pringle

Pringle was speaking in support of the Sinn Féin motion over the Reform of the Television License Fee Model.  Sinn Fein put forward a motion to abolish the TV license with immediate effect, the party also said it wants to see an amnesty for those who are being prosecuted for failing to pay the TV licence fee.

As approximately 13,000 people were brought before the courts last year for not paying their TV licence, which can lead to a €1,000 fine or a prison sentence. Sinn Fein’s spokesperson for finance Pearse Doherty said they want to invest exchequer funding into a platform which would support RTÉ, TG4 and other media productions.

Doherty said this would cost €140 million a year with an additional investment of €12.5 million to An Post, as it will lose 7% of its revenue for administering the licence fee.

Pearse Doherty TD, Sinn Féin spokesperson for Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

“We believe the model is not sustainable going forward and following the report from the Future of Media Commission that came out in July 2022, this government has sat for 19 months on this report and hasn’t acted,” Deputy Doherty said. 

“We are stepping in and bringing forward our solution for a properly funded and sustainable funding model for RTE and TG4 and for the broader media.

“Around 13,000 people were brought in front of the courts last year for not paying their TV licence.

“People who are struggling to pay their bills and with the cost of living are going to be dragged through the courts, paying €1,000 fine and maybe even a brief period of imprisonment and a court action against them – where is the fairness?”

Mr Doherty also said a “triple-lock” will guarantee editorial independence, which would include funding allocations to be multi-annual and that Coimisiún na Meán would advise on funding requirements.

“It’s also, as the commission pointed out, a regressive tax,” he said. “So the person who is earns €20,000, as the Commission said, pays the same TV licence as the person who earns €200,000.

“It’s not just simply a case that you’re taking it off them anyway. Direct taxation is a far more progressive way than a flat rate tax and that’s why this is a regressive method.

“But if you follow what the commission has been saying, if you look at the trend in terms of TV licences, even before we had the situation where one in four have refused to pay the TV licence last year, the trend is very clear, less and less people are paying the TV licence.”