Watch out, TV Licence Dodgers, the Government is coming after you!!

With revelations that RTÉ recorded a loss of €2.8m last year, radical moves are in place to catch those who have avoided paying their TV licence.

Statistics show that 1 in 7 television owners do not pay their TV licence, and Ireland has one of the highest records of tax evasion in Europe,  resulting in €100,000 a day in revenue lost to our national provider.

It is understood that An Post could be given hitherto unprecedented access to customer information on households having satellite or cable providers.

Communications Minister Denis Naughten, TD is intent on coming down heavy on  TV licence dodgers, having abandoned plans previously drawn up the last Government,  to replace the licence fee with a broadcast fee on all homes. This, FG felt would have further alienated voters with FG losing several points in recent polls.

The Sunday Independent today reports Minister Naughton is instead, considering new legislation to give An Post access to personal subscriber data held by cable/satellite companies such as Sky, Eir, Virgin, etc.

A spokeswoman confirmed the Department of Communications was “considering the proposal as part of a range of measures” and "a decision on which measures might be pursued will only be taken once the Minister has fully considered the available options."

Sky, Virgin and Eir have already expressed opposition to the proposal, and are not happy to hand over information on their multi-channel subscribers. A Sky spokesman said the ‘trust’ of its customer was in jeopardy and that Sky “that it took its responsibilities to protect its customers' data very seriously”.

Virgin similary said it would not hand over customer information to the state, unless it was legally obliged to do so.

The initiative was initially proposed by former communications Minister Pat Rabbitte, TD and later taken up by his successor Alex White but the necessary legislation failed to be pursued or adapted.