A proposal by Sinn Féin to abolish the TV licence fee immediately is a political ploy and reckless in the extreme, Minister for Media Catherine Martin has said.
She told the Dáil that it would be inappropriate to scrap the TV licence before two reports on the culture and governance at the broadcaster are published.
However, Ms Martin said that direct exchequer funding of public service media should be seriously considered.
She pointed out this is the norm in 60% of European countries.
Changing the funding model must be done in a planned way and the sooner it is done the better, she said.
Ms Martin said there is no doubt that the current TV licence fee is regressive but providing an amnesty for those who do not pay would replace one form of unfairness with another.
She urged people to pay their licence until a new funding model is in place.
Sinn Féin’s motion is seeking to replace the TV licence with immediate effect and introduce an amnesty from prosecution for those who have not paid the charge.
The party’s Spokesperson on Finance Pearse Doherty said that direct exchequer funding should pay for public service media, and the allocations should be administered by Coimisiún na Meán.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said earlier the Government will oppose the motion.
Such an amnesty would be “… a slap in the face to law-abiding citizens who have paid their licence fee this year and for years”, he said, adding: “I think this policy will backfire on Sinn Féin”.
“The vast majority of people in the country pay the TV licence fee – I do, most people do. We do it, one because it is the law and two, it funds public service media,” Mr Varadkar said.
He described the motion as “desperation from Sinn Féin and a reversion to left populism, which I suppose worked for them in the past and maybe they think is going to work for them again”.
Minister for Finance Michael McGrath described Sinn Féin’s proposals as “irresponsible politics”.
“Less than two months into the year to say that you can immediately abolish the licence fee and to effect send out a signal that nobody should pay … is the height of irresponsibility,” he said.
Earlier, Sinn Féin Cork North Central TD Thomas Gould said: “13,000 people were in front of the courts last year for not paying their TV licence. If you multiply that by the €160 fee, it is €2.2m in lost revenue.”
Following “the financial scandals at RTÉ”, he said “more than 100,000 people” have not paid their licence.
“The idea that the State would chase thousands of people through the courts is frankly absurd,” Mr Gould said and urged the Government to support his party’s bill.
Mr Varadkar agreed “that the TV licence is outmoded”, but as “it remains the law”, he urged people to pay it.
“Government will make a decision this year on a new funding model,” Mr Varadkar added.
He dismissed Sinn Féin’s policy as “comical” and its proposed amnesty as “an insult and a kick in the teeth” for those who have paid the fee.
He also criticised the proposal to keep paying An Post a collection fee when it would no longer be collecting the TV licence.
Taoiseach ‘looking at options’ – Donohoe
In Sinn Féin’s policy document, ‘Delivering Sustainable Public Sector Broadcasting and Independent Media Sector’, it states Sinn Féin also wants to provide €12.5 million each year in additional investment in An Post, as it would lose the 7% commission for administering the licence fee.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe said that the Taoiseach is looking at options around the future funding model for RTÉ.
He said one of these includes more exchequer funding for RTÉ.
Mr Donohoe has advocated retaining the TV licence in some form.
He said that he hopes the Government will reach a “wise” agreement on the issue in the next few weeks.
Earlier, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said he was taken aback by Sinn Féin’s proposal.
“Why would anybody pay any bill into the future if amnesties of this kind are to be granted?,” Mr Martin said.
“It is an extraordinary insult to everybody who has paid the television licence over the last number of decades to learn now that Sinn Féin’s view is that you should never have paid it.”
Mr Martin said it would act as a “massive disincentive” to people to pay any bill.
“Because they will always be of a view that Sinn Féin will give an amnesty to those who have never paid a bill or who never intended to pay a bill in the first instance.
He added that it was a “really populist” measure and perhaps a sign of desperation from the opposition party in terms of its perception of recent poll numbers.
Labour Party TD Alan Kelly described the Sinn Féin motion to scrap the TV licence as populist and “full of holes”.
He said the funding model has to change, but that Labour would be very concerned if it was exclusively exchequer-based as it would give the Government of the day a “power lever” over public service media, he said.
Additional reporting Paul Cunningham
