RTE director-general Mr Bob Collins has made a renewed appeal for an increase in the television licence fee. Speaking at the unveiling of four new stamps to celebrate 75 years of broadcasting in Ireland, Mr Collins told An Post chief executive Mr John Hynes that one of the main reasons more than one million people had paid the fee last year was that it was "so low".
Mr Hynes, meanwhile, made an appeal of his own for An Post to retain the TV licence contract "not just for reasons of heritage, but for reasons of performance". An Post's contract for the collection and monitoring of TV licences has been renewed, with the organisation giving a commitment to collecting 1,170,000 fees this year.
Later, a spokesman for An Post admitted RTE had traditionally been unhappy with the level of licence evasion. "But each year we agree new targets and they have never failed to be met," he said.
This year's quota was "quite a substantial increase" on the figure that had been agreed in the last contract.
Speaking at the GPO before an audience of broadcasting luminaries, including Gay Byrne, who appears on one of the four new stamps, Mr Collins thanked An Post for honouring the station's contribution to broadcasting and to Irish society over the years.
Noting the shared history of An Post and RTE, Mr Collins said the two organisations shared a responsibility to everybody in the State. Irrespective of location, everyone was entitled to have post delivered and to have a radio and television service, he said.
Reiterating RTE's commitment to public service broadcasting, Mr Collins said RTE and An Post both lived in a changing world and must change with it.