New TV licence system can’t leave RTÉ making ‘hand to mouth’ decisions - Kevin Bakhurst
Broadcaster’s director general says “fairness, certainty, and political independence” should be central to licence fee reform
A new system to replace the TV licence in Ireland should not leave the national broadcaster making “hand to mouth” choices every year and can’t be based “on television sets alone”, Kevin Bakhurst, RTÉ’s director general, has said.
As the government plans to press ahead with licence fee reform early next year, the RTÉ boss said that “fairness, certainty, and political independence” needed to be central to any new system introduced.
Speaking to the Business Post, Bakhurst said the broadcaster had seen a recovery in licence fee revenues in recent weeks, after a significant decline following the secret payments scandal saga, but said that reform of the licence fee would be crucial to putting the broadcaster on a stable footing in the years ahead.
