Television licensing in the Republic of Ireland

In Ireland, a television licence is required for any address at which there is a television set. In 2016, the annual licence fee is €160. Revenue is collected by An Post, the Irish postal service. The bulk of the fee is used to fund Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ), the state broadcaster. The licence must be paid for any premises that has any equipment that can potentially decode TV signals, even those that are not RTÉ's. The licence is free to anyone over the age of 70, some over 66, some Social Welfare recipients, and the blind. The fee for the licences of such beneficiaries is paid for by the state. The current governing legislation is the Broadcasting Act 2009, in particular Part 9 "Television Licence" and Chapter 5 "Allocation of Public Funding to RTÉ and TG4". Devices which stream television via internet do not need licenses, nor do small portable devices such as mobile phones.

The 2011–16 government planned to replace the television licence with a Public Service Broadcasting Charge on all primary residences and certain businesses. A public consultation document on the plan was published in August 2013. Asked in December 2014 about the delay in switching from the licence to the new charge, Minister of State Joe McHugh said the government would "be taking more time to work out a very complex system". By 2016 the proposal was shelved indefinitely.

An Post is responsible for collection of the licence fee and commencement of prosecution proceedings in cases of non-payment. Licences can be purchased and renewed at post offices (in person or by post), or by using a credit card or debit card via a call centre or via the internet. An Post receives commission to cover the cost of its collection service. In 2004, An Post had signalled its intention to withdraw from the business, but was still the agent in 2013. In 2012, 10.25% of licensees paid by direct debit and 11.5% using savings stamps.

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