The Director General of RTÉ has called on the Government to allow RTÉ to begin charging cable operators for its channels.
Currently RTÉ is obliged to offer its channels to any cable network free of charge.
Dee Forbes told the Oireachtas Committee on Communications, Climate Action and the Environment, that RTÉ wanted a change to the Broadcasting Act.
The committee was shown an RTÉ survey indicating that 50% of Sky customers would leave the platform if free-to-air channels were no longer available.
The figure among Virgin viewers was 60-70%.
Ms Forbes said allowing RTÉ to charge for its content would "create a level playing field" and would not amount to "a handout or double taxation".
"If Facebook or Google wanted to launch a platform here, they could simply ask for our channels and we would be obliged to provide them for free...is it really reasonable for this to continue" she asked.
Ms Forbes also called for reform of the TV licence fee, the absence of which she said made it impossible for RTÉ to plan for the next year, let alone the next five years.
She said the current licence fee of €160 had not been increased in a decade.
She said stamps, newspapers, pay TV, hospital fees, bus fares, and broadband had all seen fee increases "almost everything you can think of, so why not the TV licence?" she asked.
If the television licence fee had kept pace with inflation it would now be €175 per household per year, or 47 cents per day - "still just a quarter of the cost of a national newspaper" she said.
She said such an increase "would bring in over €15 million to public service broadcasting to both RTÉ and to the independent production sector which is very reliant on that income".
Ms Forbes also said licence free evasion is among the highest in Europe, at 15%, resulting in more than €40m being lost to public service broadcasting and to the independent sector.
She said the failure to reform and modernise the licence fee is now unfair on those who do pay it, and who are subsidising those who do not.
"Sensible and achievable reforms could transform the sector here in Ireland and help ensure the long term viability of the sector".
Earlier, the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland raised concerns over a proposal to part fund the BAI from the licence fee.
BAI Chief Executive Michael O'Keefe said he welcomed the principle of reducing the burden on the commercial sector, but warned that if money is taken from the licence fee there would be a net loss to RTÉ.
He said the BAI had recommended increases in the funding given to RTÉ.
He said measures to increase the licence fee, or tackle evasion, should be implemented before the licence fee was used to fund the BAI.
Ms Forbes said she was surprised at the proposal to fund the BAI from the licence fee, and also warned that a funding shortfall would result from such a proposal.
She said it could amount to a loss of around €1.6m to RTÉ if the proposal becomes law.
Committee chair unhappy with Irish language services
RTÉ's Irish language obligations were also discussed at a meeting of the Oireachtas Committee on the Irish Language, the Gaeltacht and the Islands.
Committee chair Catherine Connolly said she was not happy that the organisation's statutory obligations are being met, due to a lack of clarity from RTÉ representatives.
She also said that there were no members of the RTÉ executive at this committee sitting, which she felt, was a sign of marginalisation of Irish language services within RTÉ.
It was noted that another committee meeting concerning RTÉ management was being held earlier in the afternoon and that may have had a bearing on who could attend.
Group Head of Irish Language at RTÉ, Rónán Mac Con Iomaire said RTÉ spends €24m annually servicing their Irish language commitments.
Senator Trevor Ó Clochartaigh queried how many of the executive board spoke Irish, and MrMac Con Iomaire confirmed that one individual was fluent, while others had an understanding of the language.
23% of the organisation speak Irish fluently.
The management structure of RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta is currently being reviewed, and it is hoped a new head will be appointed before the end of the year.
It was noted that RTÉ Nuacht can only supply online content on a Monday to Friday basis, due to a lack of resources, while the department lost seven members of staff from a high of 44 employees in 2009.
