Ireland's Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan has been accused of "disgraceful" behaviour by coalition colleagues for a "solo run" on scrapping laws that would introduce a levy on streaming platforms.
The Limerick Fine Gael TD said on Sunday he did not see why a so-called ‘Netflix levy’ would be imposed on consumers, and would bring a memo to the Cabinet on the matter.
The legislation that established media regulator Coimisiún na Meán provided for the streaming levy to be charged in order to provide funding for home-produced programming.
Minister O’Donovan has proposed retaining the concept of levies on streaming platforms, but the decision to action such levies would require his sign-off. It is understood Fianna Fáil was not given a heads-up that Mr. O’Donovan was about to make the proposal.
He was publicly criticised by Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne over the move in a meeting of news organisations in Leinster House yesterday. The TD for Wicklow-Wexford said the minister had made a "disgraceful" mischaracterisation of the Bill.
Mr. Byrne said the "principle of the Bill" had been agreed across all parties in the last Oireachtas.
"The minister’s moves are just deeply wrong," he said.
He also said it was always the case that the regulator would give proposals to the minister. Senior Cabinet figures warned that while there was not a problem with the proposal itself, they were not pleased with how he introduced it into Cabinet.
They said bringing memos in at the "last minute" was "bad practice" and could "lead to mistakes."
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Now, Fianna Fáil figures have criticised the manner in which Mr. O’Donovan announced his plans, with one source saying: "It looks like a bit of a solo run."
The minister came in for criticism for choosing to announce his opposition to legislation, on RTÉ’s The Week In Politics, on Sunday.
"People are paying enough," for entertainment, Mr. O’Donovan said, adding people who can afford to pay for streaming "are doing so by choice."
He added: "I don’t see why I would impose a levy on top of those people, considering it would inevitably wind up being raised and raised substantially."
The regulator said it has always required the minister’s approval to sign off on such a scheme that would effectively act as a tax on large streaming companies.
One source said: "He [O’Donovan] doesn’t get it. He wanted a bit of a headline out of the story.
"The Coimisiún were charged with developing proposals around this levy. He caught people off guard. No one in Fianna Fáil knew this was coming. That’s why the Taoiseach kicked to touch on this when he was asked about it."
Mr. O’Donovan insisted to Extra.ie that he had retained the ability to "introduce a levy," but this would be a "matter for another time," when "this turbulence has passed us by."
He said: "This would likely be seen as a tariff on US businesses during this time of economic upheaval… I simply do not believe it is appropriate to introduce a new charge at this time. I make no apology for trying to protect people from increased bills.
"This might be dressed up as a levy on streaming companies, but inevitably any increased costs for them would be passed on to the Irish public… This was one of a number of amendments that went through the normal process of being circulated to all Government departments in advance of being approved by Cabinet."
The move is the latest in a series of rows between Coalition parties. Extra.ie reported yesterday that rural FF Cabinet ministers opposed plans by Enterprise Minister Peter Burke to clamp down on Airbnbs to boost housing, raising fears for the rural tourist economy.
*This article was originally published on Extra.ie.
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