Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 22 October 2013
343. Deputy Michael Moynihan asked the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources his views on the reduction in the annual transfer to RTE in respect of the TV licence; the impact it will have on the output from RTE; and if his Department was consulted prior to the decision. [44669/13]
View answerThe 2014 Budget provided for a €2.5 billion adjustment in the Government's fiscal position. Expenditure cuts of €1.6 billion were central to this adjustment and difficult decisions were required across all Departmental budgets. By its very nature, this process involved detailed and ongoing consideration at Departmental and Ministerial level of the range of potential expenditure reductions, some of which were only mooted shortly before settling of the Budget by Government. As part of this process, a decision was taken by Government on the proposal of the Department of Social Protection to reduce by €5m the amount required to be paid to my Department by the Department of Social Protection for free television licences. This measure will result in RTÉ's licence fee income being cut by over €4.6m from the start of 2014, as well as a reduction of around €350,000 in the amount available to the independent production sector through the BAI's Sound & Vision Fund.
The BAI's Five Year Review of the Funding of the Public Service Broadcasters (PSBs) was published in July of this year and made a number of recommendations in relation to the future funding of the PSBs. It is my intention that the recommendations made in this Review will serve as the basis for future decisions on the funding of the PSBs. RTÉ continues to make considerable efforts to achieve its target of breaking even at the end of this year and I am informed that RTÉ remains on course to achieve this outcome. While the prevailing challenging financial circumstances and this reduction in its licence fee revenue may have an impact on the provision of some RTÉ services next year, I am hopeful that RTÉ can continue to protect and promote its core public service output in 2014.
