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Household Benefits

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 May 2013

Tuesday, 7 May 2013

Questions (223, 224)

Róisín Shortall

Question:

223. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social Protection if she has examined the possibility of seeking a reduction in the total cost to her Department of the free television licence scheme due to the bulk-buy nature of her Department's purchase of licences on behalf of social protection clients and the fact that there are less collection, enforcement, and administrative costs involved. [21397/13]

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Róisín Shortall

Question:

224. Deputy Róisín Shortall asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department is currently reimbursed in circumstances where her Department discovers an overpayment which includes the overpayment of a free television licence; and will set out the arrangements in place to recoup the costs of such licences. [21398/13]

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Written answers

I propose to take Questions Nos. 223 and 224 together.

There are currently 408,626 customers in receipt of the free television licence as part of the household benefits package at year end 2012, with an expenditure of €57,184,565. Payments to the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR) in respect of the TV Licence have been capped at 2010 levels of expenditure as announced in the National Recovery Programme 2011-2014. Up to the time of the imposition of the cap on expenditure under this heading, payments were made on a monthly basis using an agreed formula based on a percentage of the Department’s customer base. This took into account the savings to RTE and An Post on costs of administration, enforcement and collection of the licence fees for this cohort of customers.

The customer base has grown from 394,030 in 2010 to its current level of 408,626. To maintain the cap on expenditure, this Department is currently making fixed monthly payments, in line with that paid in 2010, to DCENR despite the increased number of customers qualifying for the scheme. This measure does not impact, however, on customers’ individual entitlement to the scheme. The entitlement to a free television licence commences only after the expiry of a customer’s current licence subject to satisfying the qualifying conditions. The licence when granted is in respect of a full calendar year and therefore no refund would be due for part of a year. Customers receive their free licence directly from the Department and their entitlement remains valid for as long as they continue to receive the household benefits package. This arrangement reduces further the administration costs for my Department, DCENR, An Post and RTE as customers previously had to renew their licences annually through the Post Office network.

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