From licence fees to limousines – eight things we learnt from RTÉ at the PAC | Irish Independent
Flor Lynch
From licence fees to limousines – eight things we learnt from RTÉ at the PAC
Politicians did not save the partially reformed station any blushes
A new round of TDs on the Public Accounts Committee got their first bite of RTÉ officials on Thursday as director general Kevin Bakhurst volunteered to attend a public hearing with the Dáil spending watchdog.
Politicians did not save the partially reformed station any blushes as they questioned executives on spending on taxis, World Cup coverage and how much they need in top-ups from taxpayers as the licence fee system creaks in a new era of audience appetite and access.
Here are eight things we learnt from the seats of committee room three in Leinster House.
Funding
RTÉ has indicated that a €60m to €65m government bailout could be needed in 2028 as TV licence fee revenue continues to fall.
However, no agreement is in place for RTÉ funding beyond next year once the €725m multi-annual allocation from the Government runs out.
Mr Bakhurst said RTÉ is not looking for any additional money on top of the €725m allocation. However, he conceded that the amount of the government top-up depends on the licence fee payments.
The station is forecasting a top-up of €54.79m as TV licence fee payments have not recovered to pre-crisis levels.
The coalition promised €240m for RTÉ this year, up 6pc on 2025, made up mostly of licence fee revenue, topped up by the State. As licence revenue continues to fall, RTÉ estimates the top-up will need to be nearly €55m, up 32pc on 2025’s €41.3m direct state funding.
Fine Gael TD Joe Neville said that at a “best guess” it could be €60m to €65m in a top-up from the Government in 2028, which Mr Bakhurst did not disagree with, adding that it depends on inflation at the time.
Fianna Fáil TD Seamus McGrath said “the financial hole is getting bigger. That’s the bottom line here,” as RTÉ confirmed that commercial revenues had increased only “marginally”.
Redundancies
RTÉ has set out to reduce the headcount by “up to” 400 up to 2029, which will achieve €89m in savings, but Mr Bakhurst said he is “not prepared” to seek compulsory redundancies.
He told TDs there were 300 applications for the voluntary exit scheme last year, but only 67 were accepted.
A reduction of 30 more roles was achieved through suppressing jobs where someone had retired.
However, RTÉ only submitted the business case for this year’s voluntary exit scheme to the department last month, and said it hopes to get between 40 and 60 redundancies in the scheme.
Fine Gael TD Grace Boland said RTÉ was moving on voluntary redundancies “at a snail’s pace”. Mr Bakhurst defended the redundancy programme, saying it would not be “linear” and would be achieved over the course of five years.
Licence fee
Licence fee sales have declined by 19pc since 2022, with no recovery to pre-crisis levels.
The decline has occurred despite government pledges to tackle evasion rates when it initially bailed out RTÉ to avoid widening taxpayer top-ups.
“What I’m not hearing is a credible plan for RTÉ to be able to self-sustain,” Ms Boland said.
Mr Bakhurst told her RTÉ will need funding from the licence fee, or other public funding.
“Whether the public funding is via the current licence fee arrangement with some direct funding, or whether it’s via a new way of funding it, that is in the end going to be a question for the department and for the Oireachtas and for this committee,” he said.
Public service content like Irish language or investigative journalism are not “cost-free”, he added.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy claimed RTÉ is trying to hide a “conscious boycott” of the TV licence, with around 1.25 million households potentially liable to pay a licence fee, but only 768,000 doing so last year.
He said RTÉ’s figure of 179,000 fewer households paying the fee in the last four years was a “very significant understatement”.
Montrose
Not only are RTÉ’s personnel numbers going to decrease; its physical presence in Dublin 4 will shrink in the next seven years.
Mr Bakhurst told TDs that the plan to “downsize” Donnybrook and sell off some of the land will go before the RTÉ board soon.
He said they will “dispose” of part of the campus, as they concentrate operations on the Stage 7 building, and did not mention the future of the main TV building where the Late Late Show, Prime Time and the Six One News are produced.
Investment in Stage 7 will require RTÉ to go to the Government for a “loan” or consider a commercial loan, but the “timing is difficult”.
Mr Bakhurst said RTÉ has had “early discussions” with the Land Development Agency about the land it is looking to sell.
“We looked at all different options. We could move off the land, but then we would not own our property any more. We’d probably be renting, and I don’t think that’s the right solution for the national broadcaster,” he said.
RTÉ sold a section of Montrose to Cairns Homes for development for €107.5m in 2017.
Irish teams in European competition
Asked by Sinn Féin TD Joanna Byrne how much RTÉ pays for UEFA Champions League broadcasting rights each year, Mr Bakhurst said he could not provide the figure as it is commercially sensitive.
Ms Byrne said her understanding is that RTÉ pays €3.5m, despite no Irish teams playing in the competition.
“We are the only state broadcaster that buy the Champions League rights,” said Ms Byrne, accusing RTÉ of “ignoring” domestic football.
Mr Bakhurst said RTÉ was outbid on the FAI rights, and rebuffed her claims. Deputy director general Adrian Lynch said it was a “very competitive bidding process”.
World Cup
Mr Bakhurst confirmed that six RTÉ staff have been sent to the US to cover the World Cup, after 41 staff and contractors were sent to Prague for the qualifier against Czechia in March at a cost of nearly €57,000.
Fianna Fáil TD Albert Dolan complimented RTÉ on its World Cup coverage – “it’s been fantastic, 104 games, it’s coming up on my Instagram” – but he questioned why 41 staff were sent to Prague.
Mr Bakhurst said only commentary teams have been sent to the World Cup, while the team sent to Prague included presenters, panellists, commentators and co-commentators for live programmes across TV and radio.
He said it was a “major national event, it’s part of our job to reflect that”, and added that commercial revenues could be gained from the coverage in Prague with “zero criticism from the audience”.
“We wanted to present from out there because there are Irish fans there, and we wanted to get the voice of Irish fans as part of the coverage,” Mr Bakhurst said.
‘Up for the Match’
Mr Bakhurst said RTÉ is “not in the business of being as cheap as chips” as he defended spending more on outsourcing the production of Up for the Match.
The €600,000 contract for the show, being made independently for the first time, was recently won by Green Inc, with Dáithí Ó Sé and Louise Cantillon replacing Des Cahill, who has presented the programme since 2005.
Mr Bakhurst said the programme will be shot live as an outside broadcast in Croke Park on the eve of the All-Ireland finals.
“It is extremely attractive as an audience proposition and creatively much more ambitious,” he said.
Taxis
RTÉ was taken to task by TDs over the amount spent on taxi and limousine services, as the Irish Independent revealed it spent over €230,000 on limousines in five years and €318,000 on taxi services last year.
Mr Bakhurst confirmed that Late Late Show host Patrick Kielty gets a “car” service to Belfast each week after presenting the programme, which is included in his contract, but did not reveal how much it cost.
He said none of the executives gets a limo service, adding: “I am very happy with taxis and Ubers.”
Clarifying, he said: “They’re not limousines, if you like. They would tend to be either minivans, if in the case of the orchestra and instruments, or they tend to be, you know, a good quality car.”
PAC chair John Brady asked if it was written into any contracts that a presenter gets access to a limousine service.
Mr Bakhurst said a “transport” service was included in Kielty’s contract, along with a “clothing allowance”.
“It’s not a limousine. It’s a car. I believe it’s so that he can do the Friday night and then go on to . . . he works in Belfast the following day for the BBC, so it’s to enable him to do both,” he said.
“It’s part of the overall contract, but it’s not included in his salary.”