Most budget skirmishes featured Patrick O’Donovan

At a lively press conference in his department on Wednesday, Patrick O’Donovan said he did not have an abrasive style as a Minister. But all eyes are on the Minister as he has played a central role in the two fracas that have occurred pre- and post-budget: namely a row over the ‘culture card’, and his decision to reduce the State’s subvention to RTÉ by €20 million for 2027 because of his view that it had a suboptimal performance. The lead story for The Irish Times shows both of the issues are related to pre-budget discussions with Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers on the funding allocated to O’Donovan’s department for 2027. We report that in a letter last week, O’Donovan told Chambers that, based on what was being offered, “the Government (not the Department) will renege on the three-year funding deal agreed with RTÉ in July 2024”.READ MOREAt the heel of the hunt, an additional €21 million was allocated to O’Donovan’s department after the letter. And that seemed to be that. But in a move that caught most people unawares, O’Donovan confirmed yesterday that RTÉ’s allocation for 2027 remained the same as 2026 at €240 million. It had been expecting €260 million under its three-year deal with the Government. O’Donovan said he was not happy with the pace of change at the broadcaster and its transition to being a “more agile, smaller” organisation.That led to a swift and very assertive response from RTÉ. In an email to staff, RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said he “completely rejects” O’Donovan’s assertion that the pace of reform at Montrose has been too slow.Bakhurst said the station now had “some important decisions to make” if the previous agreement made with the Government “will no longer be honoured”.RTÉ’s chair, Terence O’Rourke, is now seeking a meeting with the Minister over the decision to effectively cut promised funding and its impact on the broadcaster. One of the contested issues is the voluntary exit programme. Almost 100 people have left the organisation. O’Donovan’s view is that only abut 30 were part of the voluntary exit programme. RTÉ has countered by saying it has managed that programme well despite the fact that it was agreed and started at a late stage. O’Donovan, at the conference, was also asked to respond to Irish broadcaster Doireann Ní Ghlacáin’s description of him as a “f**king eejit” after he said that media regulator Coimisiún na Meán would have been better off with an English title. On the budget in general, the latest Inside Politics Podcast – Budget 2027: buying the peace by pouring fuel on the fire – is here. Trouble at millThere are ‘afters’ too with the unions because of the unfinished business of a public sector pay deal and the prospect of increasing industrial action over the winter months. Ictu general secretary Owen Reidy said the measures did not go far enough to prevent a nationwide strike by public servants planned for next Wednesday. Already some unions in the public sector have told their members to operate on a work-to-rule basis. Reidy said the budget announced on Tuesday was a “halfhearted apology for last year’s” and did not do enough to address the income tax bands, which were untouched in the previous year’s budget. “The changes to income tax are a step in the right direction, and these changes were something trade unions have pushed for. However, they do not go far enough to make up for last year’s budget, when bands were left untouched,” he said.In his speech on Tuesday, Chambers said that €1.2bn in additional resources set aside for public sector pay increases showed the “seriousness” of the Government in wanting to reach a new agreement. He added: “I would now call on Ictu and other associations to match this intent by re-engaging as a matter of urgency and standing down the ongoing industrial action.” As Marie O’Halloran reports, Taoiseach Micheál Martin weighed into the row in the Dáil yesterday. He defended the Government’s approach to public sector pay negotiations and said a dispute “would be unwarranted given our willingness to talk”.He pointed to an increase in the number of public service positions and willingness to implement “substantial pay agreements”.“What no one can expect us to do is to accept unilateral preconditions before discussions, or to give up our right to table proposals,” he told the Dáil.“Any dispute on this basis serves no positive purpose and simply delays negotiations which we have shown time and again that we always approach in good faith.”Best readsIn her column, Sinéad O’Sullivan points to the EU undergoing substantial change, with discussions ongoing between it and Ukraine and Canada. That might prompt a new era of industrialisation where Ireland, with its almost-total emphasis on a service economy, may get left behind. Newton Emerson argues that Sinn Féin and the DUP are happier going to their default positions of arguing over the ‘national question’, in this instance parades, than debating the everyday political issues such as securing a budget. Dublin’s primary synagogue chose not to organise a public memorial to commemorate the October 7th attacks on Israel due to concern over “the possibility of somebody seeking to cause actual physical harm” to the Jewish community, Chief Rabbi of Ireland Yoni Wieder has said. Stephen Conneely reports.PlaybookDáil10:23am: Oral questions to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine12:00pm: Leaders’ Questions (Sinn Féin, Social Democrats, Labour, Independent Technical Group)12:34pm: Other Members’ Questions12:42pm: Questions on Policy or Legislation1:52pm: Topical Issues2:52pm: Statements on World Mental Health Day5:17pm: Statements on National Breastfeeding Week6:54pm: Budget debate resumes9:09pm: Dáil adjournsSeanad9:30am: Commencement Matters11:00am: Order of Business11:45am: Motion without debate on the Joint Committee on Education and Youth’s report on the School Meals Programme11:50am: Seanad adjournsCommitteesPublic Accounts Committee 10:30am: An Garda Síochána Vote 20 appropriation accounts for 2025; C & AG chapters on fixed charge penalty notices cancelled due to errors and on accommodation costs for policing the Uefa Europa League final; update on the committee’s earlier reports on the 2023 Garda voteSelect Committee on Education and Youth 9:30am: Committee Stage of the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019Joint Committee on Children and Equality 10:00am: Ireland’s pathway to incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child into Irish lawJoint Committee on European Union Affairs 10:30am: Engagement with the European Commissioner for Equality, Preparedness and Crisis Management