32% of defendants in Dublin facing prosecution today for not paying their TV licence fee did not show up to court, resulting in convictions and fines.
The 136 total defendants from around Dublin were summoned to court last September, though 44 of these did not turn up to court, resulting in Judge Anthony Halpin handing down a €150 fine for each individual, plus €100 to be paid towards prosection costs within 3 months.
A further 73 individuals had their cases struck out as they had paid their licence fees in the interim, and were now “in order.” These individuals did not have to attend the hearing date.
The TV licence fee, which is an annual €160 charge, is required to be paid by all television-owning households, and is largely used to fund the State broadcaster RTÉ. Failing to pay the fee can result in a fine of up to €1,000 for a first offence, or €2,000 for additional offences. If the prosecuted individual persists in not paying, they can be jailed, with hundreds of people being imprisoned over the years for this offence.
411 people jailed last year for not paying their TV licence http://t.co/AyFEb1Aaal
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) May 1, 2014
This week the Irish Independent reported a €1m drop in TV licence payments in July amid the ongoing “RTÉ-gate” scandal involving secret payments to top presenter Ryan Tubridy.
New figures show 6,000 fewer people paid fee in June and July compared to last year https://t.co/YSNBNOPLZF
— Irish Independent (@Independent_ie) July 18, 2023
Asked about licence fee payment this week, Justice Minister Helen McEntee urged the public to continue paying it.
“It is the law and I would encourage people to pay it,” she said.
“But I would also remind people what it is that you’re paying for. It’s not for one person salary. It’s not for a small number of salary. There’s a fantastic team of people that work across TV, radio, print and many other areas in order to and the work that they do.
“Everything from current affairs to sport to culture to entertainment, religion. You know, this is the service that’s provided. And I would ask people to think about that, I suppose, when they’re considering. But I would, of course, encourage people to pay their TV licence.”
This week Gript questioned Green Party Media Minister Catherine Martin on why people who don’t watch or enjoy RTÉ programming should have to pay for it. That video can be viewed below.
Gript's @Ben_Scallan asks Green Party Media Minister Catherine Martin why people who don't even watch or like RTÉ should have to pay for it. #gript #RTÉgate pic.twitter.com/KADAnkw7kg
— gript (@griptmedia) July 18, 2023