Courts deal with just under 10,000 cases of non-payment of TV licence in 2023
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Just under 10,000 cases of non-payment of a TV licence were brought to court last year.
The annual licence, which is mandatory for any address that has a television, has a fee of €160, with a potential fine of up to €1,000 or even a prison sentence if found to not have one. Around 85% of the revenue created by the TV licence goes to RTÉ.
However, in the wake of the revelations of secret barter accounts and unpublished spending at the national broadcaster, a wave of people refused to pay their licence in protest, with a fall of around 13% in the rate of payments.
This, in turn, led to an increase in the number of people taken to court over non-payments. According to Media Minister Catherine Martin, there were 9,830 cases taken to court in 2023.
In total, there were 13,276 summons issued — though some of these would result in a court case being delayed until the following year, i.e. 2024. In 2022, there were 14,915 summons issued with 9,610 cases brought to court, a considerable jump on 2021’s figures of 4,328 cases from 7,507 summons.
It is worth noting that the figures for 2021 reflect what the minister said was “reduced operational activities” due to the impact of covid public health regulations in place.
Speaking about the figures in response to a parliamentary question from Sinn Féin TD for Louth Imelda Munster, Ms Martin said: “While it is an offence not to possess a TV licence, prosecution through the courts is a last resort.
“Possession of a valid TV licence is not only a legal obligation, it also provides vital funding to enable the provision of high-quality public service content to Irish audiences.”
The minister said it was important to note that, in addition to providing funding to RTÉ, TV licence receipts “also enable funding to a wider range of broadcasters including local commercial radio, and the independent production sector, through the Sound and Vision scheme.”
Earlier this year, Sinn Féin tabled a motion in the Dáil to replace the licence fee with Exchequer funding and waive penalties for anyone who has been recently caught not paying the fee.
The motion was widely criticised, with Fine Gael TD for Mayo Alan Dillon saying it “gave two fingers” to those who did pay the licence. A Government countermotion passed by 78 votes to 56.