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PEOPLE BEFORE PROFIT has proposed a plan for RTÉ and public broadcasting that suggests replacing the TV licence with a new corporation tax, targeting technology companies.
The party’s self labelled “radical plan” – ‘RTÉ for the People’ – proposes that the state should increase the broadcaster’s budget to €500 million through public funds secured with the introduction of a new corporate tax.
People Before Profit (PBP) say that the new tax would raise €1 billion, which would go towards funding not only RTÉ, but other forms of public media.
With the funds raised, PBP propose that €500 million of it goes towards RTÉ – for its new, increased, publicly funded budget – while the remaining €500 million would fund other public media in the state.
Speaking to reporters in Buswells Hotel earlier today PBP TD Paul Murphy said: “The license fee is just another regressive tax. €160 on every household, except a small number of households, regardless of the level of income of those households.
“People rightly see it as a regressive tax. And it should be scrapped,” he added.
The party say that the new corporation tax would charge companies in the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) sector. The rate on the tax would be 1%.
“We think we should be taxing these major corporations who dominates so much of our media landscape, and in order to fund proper public service broadcasting,” Murphy said.
The Dublin South-West TD’s plan, put together alongside senior lecturer in media studies at TU Dublin Harry Browne, says that the new tax “would be relatively simple to design as it’s based on a levy on the corporate tax that already exists”.
The party’s plan claims: “Taxing ICT companies to replace the licence fee and fund public service media is compatible with the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission.”
However, PBP propose that the increase in RTÉ’s budget would come with two conditions, the introduction of a pay cap for all employees and democratising the organisation by replacing of the current Board with “a Board representative of RTÉ workers and civil society”.
PBP’s plan says “the board should not be dominated by people with private industry backgrounds” and adds that the organisation should allow for workers and the public to have input on programming decisions.
Along with increasing the budget of RTÉ to €500 million, the plan also proposes putting an end to all advertising and sponsorships on RTÉ channels, caping all pay to end six-figure salaries in the organisation, and a ban on contractor deals.
Reacting to the plan in Mayo today, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said: “I’m not sure the public would support that quite frankly.”
He added: “If we had an extra billion euros of taxpayers’ money, giving all of it to the media wouldn’t be my highest priority to be very honest.”
Varadkar also urged members of the public to continue to pay their licence fee and said any additional funding sought by RTÉ would have to be worked out later in the year and be subject to conditions.
Additional reporting from Press Association
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He was cought with a hooker 21 years ago. You d swear it as murder
Eddie Murphy had a worse scandal…
Divine Brown also shook it off and took it on the chin.
On the chin???
Yes, we need the Communications experts to teach us how to fake contrition.
Very few politicians or powerful peole ever admit error or mistakes.
sometimes you just need to come out and say “yes, we were wrong and it was wrong to bully people”. we are still waiting, communications clinic, but in the meanwhile, let’s brush it under the carpet and get all this work with thejournal and today fm. remember, eoghan – don’t be the story, and don’t be blatantly hypocritical.
Didn’t do Liz Hurleys ‘career’ any harm either….
Let me guess he’s playing a socially awkward love struck loner in the new film…as usual
Or just don’t get a @@@@@@b in a public car park if you’re a major star, thereby avoiding the need to apologise
Quite right. Or drive a car with blacked-out windows. There’s nothing wrong with a fella getting a bj, but he broke the Eleventh Commandment: Don’t get caught!
He got caught because he was putting his feet on the brakes and a copper walked past and saw the brake lights
WTF is the point of this article?
Jaysus.
I kind of get it but maybe it should be in the business section. What had me confused was bringing up Hugh Grant, there must be more current celebrities stories to pull from than that. I thought Hugh Grant did something today because of the head line. Also I really think if that happened today there wouldn’t be a huge demand for n apology. I don’t see why getting a hooker is such a huge deal that you have to apologise to strangers for it. Sure he broke the law but that’s his private life. So yea, even a better analogy than the Hugh Grant story would have been more relevant to the message.
I made a mistake once……..’86 I think it was….
No it was ’87
Some companies have a No mistake culture. I own up to my mistakes pretty much the way outlined in the article and it has worked well for me. However I know of one high pressure environments in a certain workplace where the first person on the team to admit the mistake to the boss and that things weren’t going well was subsequently let go. Nobody backs down in there anymore over the most blatant and obvious small mistakes.
Productivity is zero.
How does an employee cope with such obviously poor management?
This article is improved tenfold if you read it as Alan Partridge
Its strange the way laws differ around the world if he had sex with a Prostitute in Holland or Australia were its legal would it still of been such a big story or full stop a famous person using Prostitutes is a big story.
the issue was getting arrested for kerb crawling, not using prostitutes. it was the seedy and unnecessary element of it that publicity worthy. to this day, it could still be a staged publicity event.
Didn’t he famously say “to err is human…” and had to stop himself mid sentence?
Fr. Jack had a famous “sorry” as well lol.
Take drumm and some of our equally irresponsible politicians. Drumm single handedly didn’t cause the financial crisis. Some politicians were equally negligent. They should be prosecuted too, some of these guys are getting away with murder and the culture in irish politics is not to take responsibility for anything, which is disgraceful behavior.
Show this to the bankers.
” If you do make a COCK up, the first thing to do is try to get out aHEAD of it” Awh come on journel it was 21 years ago. No need for the little reminders between the lines
Cockups !!very appropriate word considering the piece is about Hugh Grant but hey its 21yrs ago and makes no since in that article.
You didn’t get the AHEAD ref donna
The only time I say sorry as it seems is trying to pass those who always have their shopping trollies in the way like blind and deaf eejits in the shopping aisles, they do be in another world. Then they don’t answer you, the only one who does is a shelf stacker with his big ladder in the way as well and between the both of them they have the aisle blocked… Feels like Robot Wars when shopping sometimes…
Kate Fitzgerald.
But what happens if your blamed for something that was not your fault. As some people rather blame a stranger than their friends, passing the buck is great with some people as when they do wrong they try to pass it onto something or somebody else.
The reason something starts is never the excuse that is used, people will find any excuse to pass the buck or to keep it going because they need to or because they get something from it?
Look at the Birmingham Six and then read that, plenty of stories like that… Even to workplace bullies.
So David Drumm should just say sorry and thats okay!!!
The others got off and so will he…
He got his bag of coal. He should have been hanged drawn and quartered
Yeah That’s true.
http://www.techangaza.com
Alternatively…if you’re absolutely certain you can cover your ass and get away with it then do it……….
what people don’t know won’t hurt them.
have your say