NEARLY 15,000 SUMMONSES were issued last year for failure to pay for a TV licence, with 9,610 cases appearing before the courts.
The number of summonses issued last year is more than double than that in 2021, with 7,507 summonses issued and 4,328 court appearances.
It has been reported that some 5,073 summons were issued up to the end of May of this year, and 3,513 people have been brought before the courts for the same period.
In 2020, there were nearly 10,000 summonses and 4,581 court appearances, however, due to the pandemic, 902 cases were adjourned to the following year as all TV licence cases were deemed to be not on the essential list.
The figures, contained in answers to a parliamentary question to Media Minister Catherine Martin, are revealed amid a significant drop in the number of TV licences being issued in the first week of July compared to the same time last year.
11,241 licences were issued in the first week of July compared to 15,432 in 2022.
The fall in the number of people paying TV licences comes as national broadcaster has been embroiled in controversy for weeks since the revelation it had under-reported Tubridy’s salary and failed to declare hundreds of thousands of euros in additional payments to him.
The figures show there were 5,837 fewer TV licences issued during June and the first week in July than there was in the same period last year.
This represents a loss in revenue of €933,920.
Earlier this month, Judge Halpin criticised RTE for what he described as elitism, “Godlike personalities”, and “freeloaders” while defendants were “crippled with the cost of living”.
This week, before the same judge, An Post moved to strike out 73 defendants’ cases because they had paid up and their licences were now “in order”.
An Post handles the collection of licence payments.
Failure to buy a TV licence can result in an offender getting fined up to €1,000 or €2,000 for subsequent offences. There is a possibility of a sentence if fines go unpaid.
“An Post makes every effort to reduce evasion, and prosecution through the courts is a last resort,” the minister has said.
The Irish Prison Reform Trust has campaigned for many years to end the “wasteful practice” of imprisonment for fine payment defaults.
A spokesperson for the IPRT told The Journal that its annual report for 2021 published last year shows there were 234 committals to prison for the non-payment of a court-ordered fine.
“Imprisonment for fines default represents a completely ineffective use of Garda, Courts and Irish Prison Service time and resources,” said the spokesperson, who added that a disproportionate amount (22%) of such committals continue to relate to women.
One of the key recommendations of the Future of the Media Commission report was the reforming of the TV licence system which was found to be “out of step” with changing trends in media consumption.
The Government decided to maintain the TV licence fee but to overhaul the system, with work set out on setting out the legislative and administrative changes required to ensure the TV licence system would be more equitable, relevant and sustainable.
A recommendation on the new pathway has been submitted to the minister however, since the onset of the RTÉ scandal, any work on progressing the new plan has been put on hold by government.
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