T.V. Licence...Free or Not?

I'd begun to reply to all of you and then thought it'd be easier to explain properly in one fell swoop...

Remember I'm in the Irish Republic...not Britain...so our licence is in Euros and not Sterling...

We were receiving the Household Benefits Package so had a T.V. licence...free landline telephone rental...and a portion off the electricity bill each quarter.

The telephone rental stopped some time ago...and now so has the T.V. licence. But...there will be another charge to pay at some point for what is going to be called a Broadcasting Tax. That's to cover people who might be tempted to put their televisions in the barn...lol. It was due to be paid this coming year 2015, but has been shelved for a while due to the furore over the water charges...

It is possible to watch TV on a laptop or desk top but the BBC isn't included...you need to download something to avail of the Beeb and it costs money.

Is that reasonably clear?

It's all a muddle...especially with water charges imminent and then the septic tanks having to be up dated...they'll have to whistle for that, because we simply don't have the money...

[Hidden]

Clear as mud Vashti We're not at the age for benefits yet but I hope they don't do away with every concession by the time we get there. My husband will be eligible for the travel pass soon enough and I can travel free with him as well. That's the one benefit of getting older as far as I'm concerned and if they take that away I'll go and chain myself to the railings of Leinster House

[bulpit]

Morning Vashti, all sounds very complicated, how come we never read or hear anything about all these benefits being taken away from people who really need them, just to have a better quality of life, Best wishes to you, Bulpit

[katieoxo60]

Hi Vashti, thanks for that your system is obviously different to England. However the BBC tv licence is changing over here this year as it has been on hold at the same price for a while or it could be 2016. Not sure as mine is taken from bank account and I just get a memo when it is changing. At the moment it is the price you said in your other post. Hope you had a nice Christmas to spite these changes. Hope fully some better news will come our way for new year ..............

[onamission]

Your lucky if you get all them benefits in England they give the old folk a heating grant something like £200 a year and then they get a bit extra if the temperature drops below -1 for 7 days