Public Accounts Committee to ask RTÉ and Department of Communications to appear

The Public Accounts Committee is to ask RTÉ and the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport to appear before it in the coming weeks regarding funding and staffing numbers at the broadcaster.The move came after it emerged that RTÉ is to be funded to the tune of €240 million next year, €20 million less than it had been expecting under a multiyear bailout deal between the last government and the broadcaster.The funding allocation has sparked a row between Montrose and the Government. It is understood Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan is to meet RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst and Terence O’Rourke, chair of the RTÉ board, on Thursday afternoon. READ MOREOn Wednesday, O’Donovan denied that the move was a “cut” to RTÉ’s funding, despite the previous Government promising to increase the amount to €260 million next year.He said the deal made with RTÉ amounted to “almost three-quarters of a billion euros ... an enormous amount of money from the taxpayers”.O’Donovan also said he was not happy with the pace of change at the broadcaster and its transition to being a “more agile, smaller” organisation.Bakhurst has rejected O’Donovan’s assertion that the pace of reform at Montrose has been inadequate.Committee chairman, John Brady of Sinn Féin, said on Thursday that there had been a comprehensive discussion among members at a private session and it had been agreed to schedule an engagement with the parties after the October break.He said there had been “considerable concerns” expressed by members of the committee.James Geoghegan of Fine Gael said the State had provided RTÉ with €50 million as part of the broadcaster’s reform strategy to fund a voluntary exit programme of 400 people. He said RTÉ had maintained that 100 people had left the organisation.He said actually 67 people had departed under the exit scheme and the balance to the 100 figure was made up of posts that had been suppressed – following the retirement or resignation of staff members.“The State has given them (RTÉ) money to carry out a voluntary exit programme and money to carry out a whole series of other measures including to provide high quality content ... but at the end of the day we are concerned about the spending of public money,” he said. “We need to hear from the secretary general of the department about what control mechanisms are being put in place so we don’t arrive at the situation we are currently in where one side is saying the strategy is not being delivered and the other side is saying the strategy is being delivered and we don’t know where the truth lies.”On Thursday, The Irish Times reported that O’Donovan warned Coalition leaders in a letter last Friday that the Government would “renege” on its funding deal with RTÉ if more cash wasn’t found for his department.It is understood that Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris and Taoiseach Micheál Martin believed that extra funding made available to the Department of Communications during tense negotiations over the weekend would solve any difficulties with the RTÉ allocation, but were only made aware of this issue on the day the budget was announced.[ TG4 and Screen Ireland budget funding amounts to ‘cut’ in real terms, industry warnsOpens in new window ]Separately, it was confirmed that TG4’s funding would remain static next year. The Irish-language broadcaster had requested an additional €11 million in funding in Budget 2027, bringing its total allocation to €76.4 million. TG4 ard-stiúrthóir Deirdre Ní Choistín said the broadcaster would now have to “assess the impact” on its plans and strategic priorities for next year.Ireland’s media watchdog has expressed disappointment that Budget 2027 has “not allowed for the delivery of the level of funding to RTÉ that was previously outlined in the Government’s plans”.In a statement on Thursday, Coimisiún na Meán said it “committed to maintaining secure, sustainable, transparent and accountable public service media broadcasters that continue to innovate in order to deliver their public service remit”.It added: “Both RTÉ and TG4 require funding that is adequate, sustainable and predictable, in line with the requirements of the European Media Freedom Act. This is essential to ensure that they can meet the emerging challenges of delivering public service media and continue delivering public value.“It is disappointing that the budget parameters have not allowed for the delivery of the level of funding to RTÉ that was previously outlined in the government’s plans. “We will now engage with RTÉ to understand the impact of this decision for the delivery of its services and performance commitments for Irish audiences.”The commission also said that earlier this year it delivered its Annual Review of Performance and Public Funding in respect of RTÉ and TG4, as required to do each year by the Broadcasting Act 2009. [ Most skirmishes before and after the budget featured Patrick O’DonovanOpens in new window ]The report sets out its recommendations for the funding of both organisations. The commission said it would be published by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has said it is “deeply concerned” by the Government’s decision to cut RTÉ’s funding.The EBU is an alliance of public service media organisations of which RTÉ and TG4 are members. In a statement it said: “In 2024, the Government publicly committed to €725 million in public funding for RTÉ over 3 years (from 2025 to 2027). “It said at the time that secure, multi-annual funding was essential for RTÉ to carry out its strategy. RTÉ acted on that commitment.”The EBU said RTÉ “entered into agreements with independent producers and other partners, invested in Irish drama, live sport and digital services, and continued to deliver trusted, independent news and analysis.”It added: “Withdrawing €20 million in the final year, with those commitments already in place, breaks the agreement and leaves RTÉ to fund commitments it made in good faith.”The EBU also said that the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) “is clear” and “Article 5 requires Member States to guarantee public service media adequate, sustainable and predictable financial resources to fulfill their remit. “Funding that can be reopened from one budget to the next is neither predictable nor secure.”Meanwhile, Minister of State Seán Canney has called for “cool heads” to prevail in the public discourse about financing for RTÉ in the wake of the €20 million cut in funding.Canney said the agreement between the Government and RTÉ was about more than just funding, it was also about performance.“When you have a written agreement, you also have more than just the funding. There’s also the performance of what you will do for that funding. And obviously, targets weren’t being met, so the funding had to be addressed,” the Independent TD for Galway East told RTÉ Radio’s Morning Ireland programme. “And I do believe that what will happen here is that RTÉ and the Minister [O’Donovan] will see how progress is going over the next number of months and I’m sure further engagement will take place.”He said RTÉ’s “own commitment on voluntary return has been less than what was expected, and so therefore I think there is work to be done here, there’s discussions to be had, and I do believe that what we are doing is making sure that public money is being spent in the right way.“When you are giving money and you have an agreement, there are terms and conditions to that agreement, and one of them would be you would meet your target.“What we need to do is make sure that RTÉ delivers on its commitment.”He said more funding would be made available as progress made.“We need to have cool heads and we need to sit down and see what the performance will be over the next 12 months, and what the funding difficulties will be. And I think that’s the way to deal with it. And I think it’s very important that we have cool heads.”Canney said he thought discussions between the Minister for Communications and RTÉ would be ongoing and that the best way to resolve “an issue like this” was to “sit down in a room and work it out.”The co-chair of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) group in RTÉ, Trevor Keegan, told Morning Ireland he was shocked to hear of the €20 million reduction in funding for the State broadcaster next year.[ RTÉ ‘caught off-guard’ by €20m cut in funding in Budget 2027Opens in new window ]The announcement had come as a “bolt from the blue” and would have an impact on his members and colleagues and fellow unions across the organisation, he said.Keegan said the NUJ did not “necessarily support” the voluntary exit package and other elements of the five-year strategy. “What we do support is correct funding for this organisation. If the Minister really was brave, instead of just simply going for the easy option of docking money from the organisation, he and his colleagues would actually grasp the nettle that is the funding for this organisation that was mooted in the Future Media Commission Report 2022, a joint committee from the Oireachtas in 2024 saying that it should be exchequer funding that funds this organisation properly. None of them are willing to do that. “Instead, it’s the easy option: cut more money from RTÉ and expect us to do its remit for less.”Keegan described the situation in RTÉ as “a train wreck of a financial mess before this current DG took over”.“Since then, unions, the management, HR and staff have worked diligently ... to try to get this train back on the tracks. We are finally there, we thought, going forward. And now the Minister expects us to hit the financial buffers.”