And perhaps [broken link removed] a PC will require a licence regardless of whether it has a TV card or not...
I always said if they did this I'd refuse to pay it.
I'll have to stick to my guns.
When I've lived in Ireland I've tried to avoid having a TV, when I move back I certainly won't have one. I'm not paying tv license fees to keep my work tools in the house,. I don't have a TV Card, but I might watch clips on You Tube, NBC etc. I might use the Laptop or PC to watch a DVD, that's as close to TV as I'd get.
If my office is outside the house I'd be paying two licences even though I wouldn't have a TV in either location. And all that so that RTE can keep pumping out high quality goods like You're A Star.
If I had a holiday home and I brought the laptop there with me, I'd need a TV licence for that property too, that's 3 licences, all for owning one portable machine.
I can't get rid of the PC(s) so the so-called TV licence has now become an unavoidable tax, and quite a high one at that.
Sorry Mr Dempsey, no deal. I'll be breaking this particular law and you can waste police and court time pursuing me if you like. Hopefully enough others will do the same to make it not worth your while.
Somewhere around the mid 90's we were told Ireland would become the E-Hub of Europe if not the world. A decade later we've barely got broadband, nothing outside the cities, and now they want to tax people for owning what has become as normal an appliance as a washing machine or a hoover.
The TV licence is a relic of a distant past. Let it die, embrace new technology. If you believe the existance of a strong public broadcasting organisation is for the benefit of all citizens then fund it out of tax revenue, stop creating pointless additional taxes that can be double or trebled for some while others pay nothing.
If you believe people should pay to see RTE then put it on a digital system can charge a subscription. Let the public decide whether they want it or not.
By scrapping the licence and paying out of regular tax revenue, you save money on...
Inspecting Homes to see they've paid.
Advertising the Licence.
Selling the Licence.
Prosecuting those who don't pay. (police, solicitor and court time)
Punishing those who don't pay. (court and possibly prison time)
The full cost of pursuing one defaulter all the way through the system is more than that person would pay in licence fees in their entire life.
All of these savings could be put into hiring actual talented people to present You're A Star. Or better still, reducing the amount of commercials required to keep the stations on the air.
-Rd