Vol. 401 No. 2
4 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Communications the total amount outstanding in licence fees owed by television cable companies to his Department; the steps which are being taken to ensure that this money is paid; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I refer the Deputy to my answer to a similar question on 13 December 1989, columns 1319 to 1321, volume No. 394, No. 5 of the Official Report for that day.
The total amount outstanding is now estimated to be £504, 735. At this stage 17 licensees are in arrears. Most of the money outstanding is the subject of agreements with the individual companies concerned and there is no reason to believe that this part of the arrears will not be paid over the next few years.
Legal action has commenced recently against one licensee and my Department's experience in this case will determine tactics in the future against recalcitrant payers. My Department will continue to collect outstanding amounts through routine follow-up of individual cases, legal action, refusal to consider applications for consent to increase charges unless outstanding licence fees are addressed in a satisfactory way, and refusal to consent to the transfer of licences unless my Department are also satisfied with regard to outstanding licences fees.
In this climate of denial of funds to RTE, would the Minister agree that the securing of revenue from whatever source is of paramount importance? Would he not agree that the speedy and effective collection of fees from cable companies would be a fairer and more useful way of obtaining revenue for his purposes than capping the advertising revenue of RTE?
The Deputy is bringing in extraneous matter.
It is almost inevitable in this context.
I thought we were doing nicely.
Has the Minister any information to indicate the extent to which the arrears owing to the Department arise from the inability of the cable companies to collect from the subscribers? Has the Minister considered any bonding arrangement for the future in relation to cable companies and their payments to the Department?
The law in relation to this matter was changed under the 1987 Act. I can assure the Deputy that as far as the general collection of fees is concerned, the future looks far brighter than the past. Since April of this year we have collected about £150,000. Arrangements and agreements have been reached with the companies around the country and the money is coming in. Proposals have been made for amalgamations and buyouts of a number of the smaller companies who owed money and it is in that context that we are getting in some of the money that has been owed.
I appreciate the Minister may not want to tread on very sensitive ground in terms of the whole area of funding but could he explain his suggestion that over the next few years he hopes to secure the arrears. Given the transfer to MMDS, why will it take years rather than months to collect this badlyneeded revenue?
Because the sums owed by a couple of the companies are quite large and it would mean closure for them if they had to pay up immediately. There is nothing to be gained by that as far as service to the consumers is concerned. I would prefer a longer-term agreement and a guarantee that the money will be paid. There has been a phased payment——
Together with continuity of service.
Yes, particularly with continuity of service.
The Minister has indicated that there are large sums due from particular companies. Would he agree that that seems to suggest there is some laxity in the method of collection, and can he indicate whether that matter has been considered?
The position has been improved. There were problems in relation to threatened court cases from some of the companies who felt that pirate stations who were operating within their licensed areas should be put off the air. These threats of court cases against the Government were made in 1986 and early 1987. I felt the best way forward was to arrange for long term agreement whereby there would be phased payments over a certain number of years, while at the same time guaranteeing continuity of service for the consumers which is most important.
I presume the pirates to which the Minister referred are illegal deflector systems. Can he say if all the illegal deflector systems which affect cable companies are now off the air?
That is a separate question.
No, they are not.
