asked the Minister for Communications the fee paid by his Department in 1987 to An Post for collecting the television-radio licence; and the amount per licence which is paid to An Post as commission for collection.
Ceisteanna — Questions. Oral Answers. - Television-Radio Licences.
6.
The amount paid to An Post for the purpose in question in 1987 was £4,770,580. Details of the amount paid to An Post per licence were set out in reply to a previous question in this matter. Dáil Official Report of 17 May 1988, column 1505 refers.
The Minister will agree that approximately 10 per cent of the fee is retained by the Department and paid to An Post for collecting TV licences and that the remaining 90 per cent is paid over to RTE. Does the Minister intend, given the proposed changes in broadcasting licences, that part of the amount collected will in future be paid to bodies other than RTE?
No, absolutely not. The RTE Authority will still be in receipt of the full licence. An Post have met their commitments in relation to the targets laid down by the Authority. They are doing an excellent job in the collecting of licence fees. They have spent a lot of money on computerising the collection system and I am confident that the percentage being collected at present will increase over the next five years.
Is the Minister aware that there is concern in RTE about the cumbersome matter of collecting TV licence fees? Will the Minister agree that there is a more efficient way of collecting these fees? Will the Minister agree that because a number of people do not pay for their TV licences, and are not identified, the cost to the person who is paying is an additional £7 to £10 per licence?
I agree that those liable should be paying the licence fee and that if they do not do so they are stealing from their neighbours. Unfortunately, up to now the penalty for non-payment of licence fees was very small, but the Deputy will be aware that in the Broadcasting and Wireless Telegraphy Bill which is before the House — Second Stage has been passed and I hope Committee and Final Stages will be passed shortly — the penalty for such an offence is being increased dramatically. That should increase the percentage of payments. With regard to the Deputy's question to me about whether RTE are satisfied with the collection system, I should like to tell him that while I accept they would like to collect the fee themselves they are satisfied that An Post have been meeting their targets. In my view An Post, because of their network of post offices and their contact with people throughout the country, are uniquely qualified to collect the licence fee.
Will the Minister agree that it is cumbersome for An Post to collect the licence fee and pay it to the Department and for the Department to refund part of it and pay the balance to RTE? Could that exercise not be made more efficient?
I do not accept that it is a cumbersome exercise. It has been working well and is being streamlined all the time.
Is the Minister saying that with 16 per cent evasion An Post are on target? I understood that, according to the consultants' report on RTE, we were to cut evasion to at least 13 per cent.
They are on target for the amount laid down between themselves and RTE. They reached their target last year and will reach it this year. An Post are conscious of the need to improve the percentage collected annually and have invested a lot of money in the collection system by computerising it and allocating specific staff to that task. Their system is working very well and in my view when we agree to the increased penalties there will be a greater number of people paying their licence fee. As one Member said, not to pay a licence fee amounts to stealing from one's neighbours.