Vol. 574 No. 1
168 Ms O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Communications, Marine and Natural Resources the procedures it is intended to put in place for the collection of RTE licence fees, in view of the announcement by An Post that it wishes to discontinue this business; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26275/03]
Section 76 of the Postal and Telecommunications Services Act 1983 provides for the appointment of An Post to act as my agent to collect television licence fees. I have no proposals at present to amend this legislative provision.
In the area of licence fee collection my overriding objective is to maximise the number of licence fees collected, in a cost effective manner. I have taken a number of initiatives in this regard. At the end of last year I introduced new regulations to improve the efficiency of the collection process. I also arranged for the establishment of a liaison group through which my Department works with An Post and RTE to oversee the planning and implementation of strategies directed at increasing sales of television licences. These initiatives are bearing fruit.
I am also considering longer-term measures. The question of putting the licence fee collection process out to contract is one of the possible initiatives that will be explored in this context.
