The Communications Minister Pat Rabbitte has said everyone will have to pay a new broadcasting charge to replace the TV licence, regardless of whether or not they own a television.

The Minister told the Dáil that he is due to receive a value-for-money report on the best way of implementing the new broadcasting charge at the end of March.

The new system is designed to take account of the fact that a growing number of people do not own a TV set and view their television content on mobile devices such smartphones or tablets.

Minister Rabbitte said the new charge will be imposed on every home in the country once it is implemented.

He said: "Publically funded, public service broadcasting and content are now available to everyone on an ever-increasing number of platforms and devices, and in fact access is not dependent on the ownership of a device.

"Everybody benefits from the availability of these services, regardless of how content is accessed or relayed to the public, and therefore it is my view that the cost should be borne by society as a whole."