Did you know that you need a TV Licence for a Satellite Dish ?. No I didn't think so.

Let me tell you a story that has really p*ssed me off.

Last November i moved into a new house, unfortunatley I was not able to sell my current house so I tried to rent it out. I finally succeded this week. Anyway last week my empty house had a visit from a TV Licence Inspector, who left a note saying he would be back within 14 days because he observed an Aerial on my house.

I have a satellite dish not a TV aeriel, I also have a broadband aerial, maybe this was what he seen. I don't think so.

So how many of us know we need an TV Licence for an aeriel NOT MANY I BET.

Do they tell us this in all the TV & Radio advertisement. No F**king way.

So here I am now, having always bought my licence since 1980, embarassed that a house I am trying to let/sell with the benefit of a Satellite Dish & Broadband aeriel embarassed that I am breaking the law.

when we moved into the new house we contatced the boffins at teh TV Licence department of An Post and told them what we were doing and they said that we could bring our existing licence with us and they would update their records. They never once said we needed to have a licence in the empty house for the aeriel. Why NOT I ask you ????

Anyway doing my good citizen bit I decided to call An Post and tell them about me moving and there being no TV in teh house etc. and I went on line to get teh number to call. You would expect a national free phone number for something like National TV Licences - NO WAY. Call your local TV licence office. There is none for Kildare, so I assumed well Dublin is next Door and the Capital they should be able to help me, No can do, you must call Birr - Birr is in flamin Offally not Kildare, so away I go calling an 057 number. I called at least 10 times over 1 1/2 hours always engaged. Maybe there were a lot of people in Kildare trying to query TV Licences, so instead I sent an email.

I received a very nice reply to day telling me

Unfortunately it is the case that a property owner should have a TV licence for an adddress if there is any TV broadcasting signal receiving apparatus at an address. However, it should be noted that in order for An Post to prosecute anyone for non possession of a TV licence an inspector has to actually find someone in possession of a TV signal receiving apparatus at an address.

So learn your lesson from this.

Thankfully I have a tenant moving in this week and it is now his responsibility to have a licence.

By the way, the guy at the Birr TV licence office wants me to give my new tenants details to him. NO WAY he can get them himself. I told teh tenant to expect a call from the licence inspector. Hopefully he will be transferring a licence from another address so there will be no extra fee for them or RTE.

So an empty house with an aerial but no TV and nobody in it needs a licence? The aerial can in fact be broken and you still have to pay as "it is regarded as capable of being repaired" - so you can have an empty house, with no TV and an aerial that doesn't work and still have to pay a licence fee.

What a rule! Clearly the licensors don't trust us, and it all sounds a bit like the Sheriff of Nothingham (my pun).

I can't wait to see how they handle the iphone, if it ever becomes possible to pick up TV signals? 

I dunno I'd let them sue me, if as you say they must find a signal receiving device on the premises to secure proscecution........................