Crafty new plan to detect television licence fee dodgers hits opposition
TV licence dodgers will be tracked down under a radical scheme to force Sky and Virgin to hand over their subscriber database.
In a radical move to clamp down on those refusing to pay the €160 fee, An Post could be given unprecedented access to customer information in the possession of cable and satellite providers.
One in seven Irish people is currently not paying their TV licence, costing over €100,000 a day in lost revenue.
The revelation comes a week after RTE published financial returns showing it had a deficit last year of €2.8m.
Communications Minister Denis Naughten has promised an urgent crackdown on TV licence evasion.
Last month, he scrapped plans drawn up under the previous government to replace the licence fee for TV owners with a broadcast charge for all homes.
It is felt the move would infuriate voters following controversies over the local property tax and water charges.
Minister Naughten has also indicated he will look into asking the Revenue Commissioners to help pursue evaders.
However, the Sunday Independent has now learned he is considering new legislation which would give An Post access to subscriber data held by companies such as Sky, Virgin and Eir.
In a statement, a spokeswoman confirmed Minister Naughten was considering the proposal as part of a range of measures.
“A decision on which measures might be pursued will only be taken once the minister has fully considered the available options.”
But the initiative has already been hit by a wave of opposition.
Sky, Virgin and Eir have all expressed strong reservations about handing over information on the habits of multi-channel subscribers.
A Sky spokesman said that it took its responsibilities to protect its customers’ data very seriously, recognising the “trust” its customers place din it.
“We note the Department of Communications’ potential policy initiatives to deal with TV licence fee evasion, and [Sky] has made its views clear to the department on this issue.
“We will continue to ensure that customer data is safe in compliance with all legislative requirements applicable.”
In a statement, Virgin said it would not hand over customer data in the absence of a legal obligation to do so.
“A piece of legislation such as this would require significant review and discussion at industry level, to ensure the privacy rights of individuals were suitably protected, while endeavouring to balance the needs of the State where appropriate.”
Eir said it also took the privacy rights of its customers very seriously.
The initiative was first proposed by former communications minister Pat Rabbitte, and later vigorously pursued by his successor Alex White.
However, the legislation never came to fruition.
Ireland still has one of the highest levels of licence fee evasion in Europe.
Minister Naughten said proposals for funding public service broadcasting would be tabled by the Government later this year.
RTE’s deputy director general, Kevin Bakhurst, described the broadcaster’s financial position as challenging.
“Without a meaningful review of public funding, RTE will remain financially challenged, and unable to maintain or increase investment in the sector, or to invest in important investigations, drama development and land- mark factual programming,” he said.
He blamed a high evasion rate, of 14pc, but also said there had been a steady increase in homes without a television set.
Those who don’t have a TV can watch content on mobile devices but are exempt from the licence fee.
Since the crash, RTE has been forced to cope with dramatically reduced resources.
State funding was cut by €5m in Budget 2014.
On the commercial side, TV advertising added some €83m to RTE’s coffers; €19m was from radio and €7.5m from digital.