Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 8 February 2024
213. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media the up-to-date weekly figures regarding TV licence renewal and purchase of TV licences for January 2024 versus January 2023; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5996/24]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe first table below shows the number of first time licence sales and licence renewals in January 2024, as reported by An Post.
|
Week |
Sales |
Renewal |
First Time Licence |
|
Week 1 |
12,198 |
10,779 |
1,419 |
|
Week 2 |
13,095 |
11,609 |
1,486 |
|
Week 3 |
13,956 |
12,069 |
1,887 |
|
Week 4 |
12,697 |
11,230 |
1,467 |
|
Week 5 |
10,386 |
8,968 |
1,418 |
By way of comparison, the below table shows the number of first time licence sales and licence renewals in January 2023.
|
Week |
Sales |
Renewal |
First Time Licence |
|
Week 1 |
13,979 |
11,880 |
2,099 |
|
Week 2 |
17,212 |
14,473 |
2,739 |
|
Week 3 |
15,299 |
12,895 |
2,404 |
|
Week 4 |
13,426 |
11,615 |
1,811 |
|
Week 5 |
7,848 |
6,846 |
1,002 |
Public service content is crucial to our democracy and society as a whole and therefore, as I have stated on numerous occasions, it is vital that people continue to pay the TV licence fee. Not only is it required by law but the funding provided through TV licence fees enables essential news and current affairs programming. Through the Sound and Vision Scheme, it supports commercial and community radio and the broadcasting sector as a whole, including the independent production sector. The latter also benefits from RTÉ's external commissioning of programmes.
