Television Licensing in The Republic of Ireland - Disbursement

Disbursement

TV licence fees make up 50% of the revenue of RTÉ. The bulk of the rest comes from RTÉ broadcasting commercials on its radio and TV stations. RTÉ also sells programming to other broadcasting. Some RTÉ services, such as RTÉ 2fm, RTÉ Aertel, rte.ie, and the transmission network operate on an entirely commercial basis.

The licence fee does not entirely go to RTÉ. Expenses first deducted include the cost of collection (paid to An Post).

5% of the balance is used for the BCI's "Sound and Vision Scheme", which provides a fund for programme production and restoration of archive material which is open to applications from any quarter. TG4 does not obtain licence fee revenue directly, but does so indirectly as RTÉ is required to provide it with one hour's programming per day, as well as other technical support. RTÉ's accounts express the cost of this as a percentage of its licence fee income, amounting to 5.3% in 2006. The remainder of TG4's funding is direct state grants and commercial income. The 2009 McCarthy Report, commissioned in response to a growing economic crisis, recommended that €10m of TG4's funding should in future come from licence fee revenue; without increasing the fee, this would entail a matching reduction in RTÉ's funding. This reduction is included in the government budget introduced in December 2010.

The RTÉ Authority was replaced by the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland which regulates both private and public broadcasters. It is not directly funded from the licence fee; however RTÉ, in common with other broadcasters, pays a levy to the Authority for its services.