Head of RTÉ calls for TV licence to be increased to this amount

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Head of RTÉ, Dee Forbes, addressed the government yesterday to ask for a review of the Broadcasting Act. Her reason for doing so was because she wants to attract more investment into RTÉ through the licence fee and also through service providers. According to RTÉ, Dee pointed out that a recent survey stated that 50 percent of Sky customers and 60-70 percent of Virgin Media customers admitted that they would leave those providers if they did not have the RTÉ channels. At present, providers such as Sky and Virgin do not pay anything to RTÉ for the channels. Dee is asking that they begin to charge to increase the income of the station. She is also calling for an increase to the TV licence. She pointed out that the current cost of €160 has not changed in the last ten years, whereas the likes of stamps, newspapers, bus fares and hospital fees have all increased during this time. She is proposing that the cost be increased to €175. Breaking it down, she pointed out that it would mean 47cent extra a day, which she says is still lower than a price of a national newspaper. She said the increase, "would bring in over €15 million to public service broadcasting to both RTÉ and to the independent production sector which is very reliant on that income." She also added:

"Sensible and achievable reforms could transform the sector here in Ireland and help ensure the long term viability of the sector".