RTÉ interim bailout of €35m must have strings attached, says Varadkar

The Cabinet approved the principle of interim funding for RTÉ earlier this year but circumstances have changed since and trust has been damaged, Minister for Media Catherine Martin has said.

At a media conference after the Government’s first Cabinet meeting since the summer break, Ms Martin differed slightly from Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s earlier comments around temporary funding for the beleaguered broadcaster.

While Mr Varadkar suggested that any future funding for RTÉ would have “strings attached” and would require conditions, Ms Martin intimated that interim funding had been approved in principle – following a recommendation from the Future of Media Commission – but not the quantum. She said the amount would be subject to negotiations.

Like the Taoiseach, Ms Martin said the amount requested by RTÉ, €34.5 million, would be scrutinised and interrogated by the Government’s advisers New Era and the Government would arrive at its own conclusions as to the amount that was required.

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She said the key issue at the heart of the debate was longer-term funding of the broadcaster. She said there was agreement among Cabinet members that there must be “robust reform”.

“We need to see more of the cost saving measures, for example, like commitment in relation to presenters pay. We need to see more like we have seen with the [commitment to the] register of interests.”

She said the Government had approved interim funding but since then trust in RTÉ had been damaged.

“Obviously there will need to be conversations and I will be meeting the director general and the chair of the board before the budget. That is after I get the New Era report. All my communication will be very clear on what is needed in RTÉ. But I think a good start has been made by the new director general [Kevin Bakhurst]. But more needs to be done.”

Ms Martin said the final report by consultants Mazars, looking at the off-books barter account as well as the accounting treatment of payments made to former RTÉ broadcaster Ryan Tubridy, would be published in October. She said the two in-depth reviews she ordered into governance and management at RTÉ would be completed by January.

In addition she said a further independent report examining all the circumstances as to why Toy Show the Musical lost €2 million would be completed by the end of October.

Ms Marin also said that a further report looking at RTÉ’s voluntary exit scheme would be published in the final week of September or the first week of October.

Earlier, Mr Varadkar said the Government would not accept RTÉ’s estimated funding deficit figure until it had independently scrutinised its books.

He was speaking as new figures showed RTÉ is expected to lose €21 million in TV licence revenues due to the drop in sales that has occurred in the wake of the revelations over secret payments to Ryan Tubridy.

Data released by the Department of Arts and Media show that in the fourth week of August, the number of people paying their television licence was down by 40 per cent on last year.

Mr Varadkar said: “I think the vast majority of the public do value what RTÉ does, in terms of news, in terms of funding Irish drama, children’s programming, Irish language programming.

“That’s why most people do pay the TV licence. And I encourage people to continue to do so. But I don’t think that the Irish public would accept a financial bailout of RTÉ with no strings attached. There has to be strings attached. It has to be conditional.

“That’s why we’re not in a position to sign off on something like that, until we’ve seen the new strategy and the reform plan from RTÉ,” he said.

Mr Varadkar also committed that the Government would legislate for a new funding system for public service broadcasting and media by 2025, which would replace, or reform, the current TV licence. He said it would not be an empty promise but would happen.

“I’ve been through successful and unsuccessful attempts [to reform the licence] during my 12 years in government. So I can understand the scepticism.

“But what I’m saying to you is that that’s the commitment that I’m making. We can’t continue to deal with this issue on a year by year basis. And it’s very, very clear to me that we need to have a new system in place that isn’t just about funding RTÉ. It is to provide funding for the wider public service media. And I believe we can make the political decisions necessary this year, legislate for it next year and have it in place in 2025.”

He continued: “The funds that we have for public service broadcasting and public service media shouldn’t all go to RTÉ ... So we need to decide very clearly what we’re going to fund and then have a mechanism by which there’s greater opportunities for other media organisations to apply for that funding,” he said.

Mr Varadkar also said that the €21 million fall off from licence fee income would not be written off but that those households who had not paid would face inspections for evasion.

A statement from RTÉ said its director general, Kevin Bakhurst has previously confirmed that the broadcaster submitted a request to the Minister in May for interim funding of €34.5 million.

It said this request followed the recommendation by the Future of Media Commission in its report that RTÉ receive interim funding, but also recognised the considerable increase in the rate of inflation since the publication of the Commission’s report.

RTÉ said it wrote to the Minister again last week to request interim funding with the same figure, €34.5 million being sought.

“RTÉ remains focused on delivering a range of important changes to the operation and culture of the organisation as part of the essential work to restore trust in RTÉ,” it said.