Income from ‘broken’ television licence fee down €5.7m in first nine months

Income from the television licence fee continues to decline, with €5.7 million less collected to date this year compared with the same period last year.New figures provided by Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan show 536,551 licences have been sold for the first nine months of this year, which represents TV licence income of €85.86 million.In figures provided to Social Democrats TD Aidan Farrelly in response to a written Dáil question, O’Donovan said the number of licences sold to the end of September was down 35,748, or 6 per cent.The income generated was €91.56 million, down €5.7 million year on year.READ MOREBased on the data for the first nine months, the income generated from the projected 715,401 television licences to be sold for the 12 months of 2026 is likely to be about €114.46 million.That would represent a €37.2 million hit on the €151.66 million in TV licence revenue generated by the 792,000 licences sold in 2022, which predated the RTÉ payments controversy of 2023.The projected €114.46 million for this year will be €8.5 million down on the €122.98 million generated from the sale of 768,657 licences in 2025.In response to the figures, Farrelly, who is member of the Public Accounts Committee, said: “The TV licence system is not just fundamentally broken, it has collapsed.”Farrelly said the figures provided demonstrated a prevailing theme. “There is no doubt that the TV licence system needs an overhaul and full reform. It is not fit for purpose,” he said.[ RTÉ funding snub not a good look for Patrick O’DonovanOpens in new window ]“It is an area I intend to explore with RTÉ and the department when they are before the Public Accounts Committee.”The €160 TV licence is collected by An Post and the revenues go to the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport, which provides about 85 per cent to RTÉ to carry out its public service media commitments.A further 7 per cent is paid to Coimisiún na Meán and An Post is paid approximately 6 per cent of the licence fee in respect of television licence collection activities.In his reply, O’Donovan told Farrelly: “In July 2024, the Government agreed to retain the TV licence system, underpinned by new measures designed to improve collection and compliance in order to maximise revenue generation. “To this end, the interdepartmental technical working group on the reform and enhancement of the television licence was reconvened by Government in order to examine potential administrative, technical and legislative measures.”He said the group submitted its report to him before the summer recess.[ RTÉ likely to get back €20m lost in Budget 2027 ‘if it proves reforms are on track’Opens in new window ]“I intend to bring the report to Government shortly to decide on the next steps,” O’Donovan said. “The timing of the publication of the report will be contingent on when this decision is made. “It would not be appropriate for me to disclose the contents of the report prior to it being considered by Government.”Asked to comment on the television licence model, a spokesman for RTÉ said: “While we believe clarification regarding funding of public service media is vital, questions regarding the funding mechanism are for Government.”Along with the RTÉ payments controversy, the number of TV licences sold has also been hit by the increase in households without a TV set.Another issue the system faces is an ageing population, which means the number of households that qualify for a free licence increases every year by between 13,000 and 20,000.