Judge dismisses five TV licence summonses after evidence of television in homes not provided

Five television licence summonses collapsed at Athlone District Court because the inspector could not establish that televisions were present in the homes when he visited.

An Post inspector Seamus Murphy told Judge Patricia Cronin about unannounced visits to properties in Athlone in January. He said the respondents did not hold television licences at the time and still had none by Friday. Each unlicensed property represents a €160 loss to the Revenue Commissioners, he said.

But Cronin said the evidence did not meet the requirement for a successful summary prosecution. The prosecution had to show that a television set was at each property on the day of the inspection. Although she found that the summonses had been properly served and that the respondents had been notified of the hearings, she said she “had no option” but to dismiss them.

A further summons, involving Uraiwan Lynch, was dismissed because the address stated Brawny Drive rather than Brawny Square. The properties involved were in Lissywollen and included addresses linked to Maria Macken, Sophie Stephens, Joyce Guilherme, Adebo Hamsat and Emer Meade. Other people who appeared in court had their summonses struck out after producing evidence that they had since bought television licences.

The cases come as the number of people brought before the courts over television licences continues to decline. More than 7,000 such cases were recorded in 2022, followed by just over 6,500 in 2023. The total fell to about 5,000 in 2024 and slightly below 4,800 last year, despite a wave of licence evasion associated with the 2023 RTÉ payments controversy.

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she had no option