Three in 10 households are currently not paying – half of them legitimately because they don’t have a TV, although they may have other devices. She said the station had argued instead for reform of the collection system. Ms Forbes emphasised that RTÉ was not seeking an increase in the €160 annual licence fee, which has not been raised since 2013.
James O’Connor of Fianna Fáil said the Player was “a disgrace”. Social Democrats co-leader Catherine said she had tried it herself and regularly gave up in frustration. “I’ll be honest with you, we don't have the resources nor the money of some of the streamers or the likes of Channel Four where they have invested significantly in this.” What was needed to make it fit for purpose was “significantly more than we're spending now”. The station was allocating monies in continually upgrading the Player, she said. The Player has stabilised a lot in the last year, Dee Forbes told the Public Accounts Committee.
RTÉ is committed to ironing out “issues” with its Player streaming service, the station’s head has said. Here’s what we learned: 1) It knows there are major problems with the RTÉ Player Director general of the national broadcaster, Dee Forbes, met today with the Public Accounts Committee and discussed the licence fee collection system among other things.