‘Too early’ to tell if licence fee drop-off will be long term – media minister

The fall in fee payments follows a scandal involving the main recipient of the licence fee, RTE.

Department of Culture and Media minister Catherine Martin speaking at the Smock Alley Theatre in Temple Bar, Dublin, to announce support for the night-time economy. The department released figures that indicate there was a 27% drop in the number of licence fees issued in the first full week in July (Niall Carson/PA) (PA Wire)

Media minister Catherine Martin has said it is too early to tell whether a drop-off in the number of TV licence fees is a long-term issue.

The fall in fee payments, which are a legal obligation for having a television, follows a scandal involving the main recipient of the licence fee, RTE.

The minister said there was a 31% reduction in TV licence fee payments in the second week of July compared with last year.

There were 8,922 sales of TV licences in the second week of July, compared with 12,981 in the same week in 2022.

It looks like since late June when this broke there has been a decisive impact

Former communications minister Richard Bruton

This follows a 27% decrease in the renewals of TV licences in the first week of the month compared with the same week last year.

The controversy began on June 22 when RTE said it had incorrectly declared the earnings of its star presenter Ryan Tubridy by 345,000 euro over the period 2017-2022.

This has led to intense scrutiny of Ireland’s public service broadcaster, including a look at its governance and accounting practices and hospitality given to RTE’s advertising clients.

There have been concerns about whether RTE would suffer a loss of revenue both through fewer people paying their annual 160 euro TV licence fee, and by a drop of advertising clients as a result of the debacle.

Approximately 85% of revenue from TV licence fees goes to RTE to carry out its public service broadcasting commitments.

Speaking to reporters in the Temple Bar area of Dublin for the launch of new supports for the night-time economy, Ms Martin said: “I think it’s too early to see if that’s a long-term trend.”

Before the scandal broke, she said she had planned to request funding of 16 million euro in interim funding as part of Budget 2024, but said she will be assessing licence fee revenues over the summer as well as commercial revenues before settling on a figure in September.

“We see some reports today, but I have to look at June, July, August and also look at the commercial revenue in RTE and see what that picture is as well in September.”

She added: “We don’t know if people are holding back, is it just an initial quick reaction to the controversy? So to make my decision as informed as possible, I need more data in September.”

“I think these figures, and this is only my opinion, maybe likely to reflect that public sentiment … at the height of this controversy.

“Are people delaying it in reaction? Will they actually renew it in the future, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re never going to renew?”

She also said it is “really important” for people to pay for their TV licence, adding it was the “law of the land” and vital for public service broadcasting.

Former communications minister Richard Bruton said earlier on Tuesday that the figures represented “very worrying trends”.

“It looks like since late June when this broke there has been a decisive impact,” he said, but added that it remains to be seen how long it lasts.

“You have to worry that this is a trend that won’t be easily reversed,” he told RTE Radio.

He said the government’s decision not to remove the 160 euro licence fee and to fund RTE directly from the exchequer would “have to be revisited”.