Satellite and cable TV companies may be obliged to provide details of their subscribers that could be cross-referenced against those holding television licences, according to the Minister for Communications.
Mr Dermot Ahern said officials at his Department were looking into the cross-referencing option as a report today showed TV licence evasion rates have fallen from 16 per cent to 12 per cent.
The report from the Comptroller and Auditor General, titled Value for Money Report on Television Licence Fee Collection, shows the amount of money available for public-service broadcasting had risen from €114 million in 1998 to €165 million last year.
But the report noted that the licence evasion rate remained higher here than in Britain.
Mr Ahern said measures had been introduced in recent years to ensure that evasion rates continued to fall. He said there were greater financial incentives for the collection agent, An Post, to increase TV licence revenues.
The report states that a new agreement reached between the Department of Communications and An Post allows for an incentivised payment structure that provides for greater level of revenue for An Post based on achievement of licence fee sales targets.
In addition, detection of unlicensed premises continued. In 2002, licences were purchased for over half of the premises inspected following a visit by An Post inspectors.