A TV licence is now needed to watch the BBC's online player, but Ireland won't follow suit

IRELAND WILL NOT follow in the footsteps of the UK and introduce a new licence system for online broadcasting.

New TV licensing rules in the UK came into effect yesterday, making it illegal for viewers to watch catch-up shows on BBC iPlayer without paying the nation’s licence fee.

However, Communications Minister Denis Naughten said Ireland wouldn’t replicate the setup with RTÉ’s digital player, despite what has been described as “unacceptable” levels of licence-fee evasion.

The previous government committed to introducing a public service broadcasting charge to replace the TV licence fee.

At the time, the argument was made that people are now watching television across multiple platforms, including digital players, and are no longer consuming as much live programming.

However, Naughten confirmed there are no plans to replace the current television licence fee with an alternative licence.

Communications Minister Denis Naughten

No fee increase

The minister also confirmed that there will be no increase to the TV licence fee – currently €160 – at this time. The licence fee has not increased since 2008.

However, Naughten said he does have plans to tackle the high number of people who are evading the fee.

A spokesperson for the minister said he “recognises the challenges that face the existing TV licence system and, in that context, he is working with his officials to examine measures that might be taken with a view to strengthening the system, with an emphasis on reducing the current, unacceptable levels of TV licence evasion”.

In the next Dáil term, Naughten plans to present a plan to Cabinet for approval that aims to tackle the issue.

The minister said there was “large-scale evasion” in the system, roughly three times the rate of that in either the UK or Germany. Up to €40 million in fees is going uncollected, the government has claimed.

“I recently had a meeting with An Post and expressed my concern,” Naughten said.

“I will be bringing specific proposals to Cabinet in the autumn that will tackle the unacceptable rate of evasion and improve the overall operation of the TV licence system.”

In a pre-Budget submission, the Audiovisual Federation, which represents companies including broadcasters and TV and film producers, called for the government to give An Post more data about the public to help it enforce collection of the fee.

Written by Christina Finn and posted on TheJournal.ie. Additional reporting Peter Bodkin