THE Minister for Arts Culture and the Gaeltacht, Mr Higgins, will approve the choice of director general of RTE on Wednesday, following a two day meeting of the RTE Authority.
The meeting, today and tomorrow, has been called specifically to decide on the appointment of a new director general to succeed Mr Joe Barry, who retires in April.
Four men have been shortlisted and were interviewed for a second time last month. They are the head of news, Mr Joe Mulholland, the head of television programmes, Mr Liam Miller, the head of television services, Mr Eugene Murray and the assistant director general, Mr Bob Collins.
There was some surprise in RTE that the second interview panel did not include the head of the independent production unit Ms Claire Duignan. She was the only senior woman in the organisation to be interviewed.
The interview panel, made up of members of the authority, will be making a recommendation to their colleagues. Yesterday, there was no confirmation of any recommendation, although it is thought Mr Collins is a strong possibility. He has been a vocal champion of public service broadcasting and its future within a broadcasting environment that will consist of hundreds of new television services. This will be one of the major issues facing RTE.
It is also believed that he was one of the authors of RTE's submission in response to the Green Paper on Broadcasting. This will be the basis of broadcasting legislation, expected to be published later this month or early next month.
The new director general faces a difficult five years. RTE has been making losses on programme making and transmission. Though financially healthy, this is due to the success of its commercial activities and the sale of Cablelink shares.
A number of factors is causing major concern within the organisation: the annual commitment of £5 million to TnaG; the growing cost of independent productions as well as a feeling that there has been little planning for the future. There is also the uncertainty over what Mr Higgins's legislation might contain, and the possibility of a change of government this year, which might revive debates about privatising parts of RTE.
Programme makers are already facing budget cuts for next year, and in radio, producers fear RTE will not be able to fight competition from Radio Ireland, the new national service due to go on air in March. At the same time the growth of television services will presumably fragment RTE's audience, making it more difficult to maintain its advertising income.