RTÉ has informed the Government that employment legislation has pushed its staff numbers up by almost 300.
In its annual report and accounts, the broadcaster will include a special note explaining that the number of full- and part- time employees has risen from 1,850 to 2,135 in the year to December 31st, 2003.
The station committed itself when applying for a licence fee in November 2002 to reduce its overall numbers, but the station has been forced to regularise the employment of about 300 contractors because of the Protection of Employees Act, which aims to ensure that certain casual workers are treated as favourably as full-time employees. The station has taken extensive legal advice about the matter in the past year. It is expected to publish its annual report next week.
For many years RTÉ has engaged hundreds of staff on a casual or freelance basis, but since an EU directive was transposed into Irish law this is no longer possible. Consequently RTÉ's staff numbers have risen, even though a large number of full-time staff have left in recent years.
The Department of Communications, which ultimately decides on whether the station gets a licence fee increase, is likely to study the figures closely.
In December, the Minister for Communications, Mr Ahern, expressed concern "at the lack of substantive progress under the change programme, particularly in relation to reducing staff numbers".
He made his comments after agreeing to an increase in the television licence fee of €2 (or 1.3 per cent). The new licence fee of €152 came as a disappointment to RTÉ, which described it as a "missed opportunity".
The Minister's statement said: "It is his intention to inform RTÉ that, in the review of their licence fee application in 2004, he will be putting a particular emphasis on RTÉ achieving the planned reduction in staffing, as articulated in their change programme."
An independent review of RTÉ by PricewaterhouseCoopers, conducted on behalf of the Minister, concluded that RTÉ achieved "a significant amount of what had been agreed for 2003", but the consultants expressed a concern regarding staff numbers.
It is not clear whether the latest figures will have an influence over future decisions on the licence fee. The Department of Communications declined to comment yesterday.
