Mr Paddy Wright is in no doubt as to the task facing the new RTE Authority. "The job is to get costs down and revenue up," he says.

It is not an altogether surprising approach, given his previous position as chief operating officer of one of Ireland's largest industrial companies, the Jefferson Smurfit Group. His new role may "be very different from making cardboard boxes but it comes down to the same things in the end: money and people," he says.

His plan is equally straight forward. He wants a "transformation agreement" with the unions that will bring the cost savings needed to return the company to the black and encourage the Government to grant a much-needed licence fee increase. His contribution to all this will be to "help out on the revenue and cost side," he said yesterday.

Mr Wright has been chairman designate since the end of last year but took up his post only at the start of this month. He has already cast his seasoned eye over the semi-state. Mr Wright wants to bring a new commercial focus to the way RTE operates. "We have to chase every bit of revenue we can."

A key part of the strategy will be the commercial enterprises division. Executives will be involved in planning almost everything, including programme development, to capitalise on any commercial opportunities. "A tweak here or a tweak there at the beginning could make all the difference when it comes to selling a programme abroad," explains Mr Wright. RTE's extensive archive is another candidate for commercial exploitation but will require a considerable amount of investment, he said.

Profit will not be the prime objective of RTE under Mr Wright. "I don't think we should be expected to make a lot of money, but we must cover our costs. I don't think anyone expects us to make £20 million a year either," he said.

Mr Wright seems confident about the outcome of the negotiations between RTE and the Department of Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands over the future of its transmission network. Mr Phil Flynn, the former president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, has completed a round of consultations with the authority and reported back to the Minister, Ms de Valera, with "his interpretation as to where RTE should find itself," according to Mr Wright.

The new chairman is confident that RTE will retain a significant stake in Digico, the new joint venture company that will take over the transmission network and upgrade it to carry digital signals. The Government is expected to seek a private-sector partner to fund the cost of the new network in return for a majority stake in the new company.

RTE will probably not get the 40 per cent stake it is seeking but it will not be far off, said Mr Wright. It is in the Government's interest to retain a stake in the digital network (through RTE) as it is almost impossible to put a true value on the asset at the moment, he said. "At the end of the day we will do as we are told," said Mr Wright.

Getting the Government to agree to a licence fee increase will be a difficult task, he concedes. "We will go looking in the autumn, when we can say the negotiations are going well and the unions are playing ball," he said.

RTE will first of all have to convince the Minister that it is a good idea and then she in turn will have to convince her Cabinet colleagues. Mr Wright believes that he can make a convincing case for an increase by showing how the money will be channelled into new drama and light entertainment programming. This is an area in which Mr Wright believes the station is weak.

He will not indicate what sort of an increase on the current £70 a year that he is looking for.

Ms de Valera can expect Cabinet opposition for several reasons, not the least of which is that the cost of a TV licence feeds directly into the consumer price index. With inflation already high and a cause of strain on the Government's relations with the social partners, the Government will be cautious about any move that would accelerate inflation.

So what can RTE staff expect of the man who once famously said he would "walk naked down O'Connell Street" for his former boss, Dr Michael Smurfit? "I will walk backwards for RTE," said Mr Wright yesterday.