2026-06-11

75. Deputy Darren O'Rourke asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to provide an update on TV licence sales for each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date in 2026; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [43818/26]

I ask the Minister of State to provide an update on TV licence sales for each of the years 2024, 2025 and to date 2026. I ask him to make a statement on the matter.

There are two key revenue streams associated with the TV licence, which are the revenue arising from television licences sold by An Post as statutory issuing agent and the allocation provided by the Department of Social Protection in respect of the provision of free television licences to recipients of the household benefits package. As I know the Deputy is aware, the number of television licences sold by An Post has been in decline over the past number of years. This has been driven by three factors. First, an ageing population means that the number of households qualifying for a free TV licence increases every year by between 13,000 and 20,000. Second, the number of households without a liable television set has increased, driven by changes in the way that people access audiovisual services. Third, there has been a marked increase in evasion since the revelations regarding presenter payments and governance failings in RTÉ in July 2023. In this context, TV licence sales have continued to decline over the past number of years. In 2024, 792,000 TV licences were sold by An Post. In 2025, this figure was just over 768,000. To the end of May 2026, just under 300,000 TV licences were sold, a 4.5% year-on-year decline in the year to date. A total of 299,373 were sold to the end of May this year. In July 2024, the Government decided that the TV licence system would be retained, underpinned by improvements in collection and compliance to maximise revenue generation. The technical working group on the reform and enhancement of the TV licence was reconvened to bring forward proposals to that effect. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, recently received the report of the group and will decide on the next steps with Government colleagues.

It is clear, based on the figures the Minister of State has outlined, that the TV licence funding model is completely broken. People are voting with their feet. The Minister of State has outlined a number of contributing factors. The single biggest contributing factor is scandal after scandal in RTÉ. In 2019, over 1 million TV licences were sold. The Minister of State is saying that in the first half of this year, fewer than 300,000 have been sold and in all of last year, only 768,000 were sold. This is a very significant decrease and it calls into serious question the fundamental funding model for public sector broadcasting in this State. When will decisions be made on the review that has been conducted and will the scrapping of the TV licence be considered?

I thank the Deputy. As I said in my initial response, the technical working group on the reform and enhancement of the TV licence has brought forward proposals to that effect. The report from that group has only recently been received by the Department. That will be considered and I have no doubt over the next short period we will step it out in responding to it and plotting the way forward. There are real challenges there as we all accept. It is really important we see the continuing reform happening at RTÉ to build confidence in the public in terms of people purchasing their TV licence. I think we all agree it is more important than ever at the moment that we have a good public service broadcaster in this country and have that service. When we see what is happening in the level of disinformation and misinformation now in the online world, having a credible authoritative public service broadcaster is more important than ever. We have recognised that at Government level in putting the funding streams in place to support RTÉ. It is important we ensure there is a sustainable way forward and a strong broadcaster underpinned by that funding into the future.

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire Stáit. I absolutely agree and that is why it is important to raise these issues. At the heart of this is the question of the funding model for good-quality public service broadcasting. I will give another example on this. I welcome the Ashbourne Women's Shed who are visiting today. There were a number of posts for local democracy journalism funded across the State but in Meath and Mayo those posts have been withdrawn. They are not being funded. It was an initiative on behalf of this Government and the previous government. It was a welcome and important initiative. It could be seen reflected in local online and print media covering local council meetings and court services. There needs to be increased investment in this initiative. In particular, the post in County Meath needs to be reinstated. The public in County Meath need to have the same access to that service as we have in other parts of the State.

There was a new round recently of those public service grants for coverage and journalism across different mediums, whether that is broadcast or print. Like the Deputy, I have seen the benefit and the impact of that in the increased coverage of what is happening in the public sphere by journalists. It is a very worthy scheme. I will certainly pass it back and ask the Department officials to consider the point the Deputy makes and to respond to him regarding Meath and Mayo. I expect it must be that from one round to the next not all applications would be able to be approved each time. A sustainable funding model for our public service broadcaster and for public service broadcasting in general across different streams is really important in the country. It has been challenged. It is important we consider that and have debates and discussion around it. As a Government, we have committed to the TV licence. However, we have commissioned a report to look at how it can be reformed. We can all agree it is important that it is removed from the Government. That is a really important principle on which public service broadcasting is established in terms of a broadcaster. It is something we are taking seriously and will be coming forward, on the back of receiving the report, with that further direction of travel.