Decision on full scale of bailout for RTÉ may not be made until after budget

Government considering interim funding of €16m on budget day with further €40m contingent on RTÉ's reform plans

Minister for Media Catherine Martin has reportedly received NewERA's report into RTÉ's request for extra funding. Photograph Nick Bradshaw for The Irish Times
Minister for Media Catherine Martin has reportedly received NewERA's report into RTÉ's request for extra funding. Photograph Nick Bradshaw for The Irish Times

A decision on the scale of the bailout to be offered to RTÉ may not be made until after the budget.

The national broadcaster has been seeking a sum of €55.5 million to help with its financial difficulties.

It has already sought €34.5 million in additional funding in May.

This was before the drop in TV licence fee revenues – expected to reach €21 million by the end of the year – in the wake of the controversy over former Late Lat Show host Ryan Tubridy’s pay.

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The Irish Times understands the Government is considering splitting the decision on any bailout for the broadcaster.

This arrangement could see €16 million in funding approved in the budget with a later decision to be made on a larger sum or about €40 million which will be contingent on RTÉ's plans for reforms, due to be delivered later in October.

The €16 million sum is similar to the €15 million in extra State interim funding for public service broadcasting that RTÉ was awarded in last year’s budget.

That funding came on the back of a recommendation by the Future of Media Commission.

The Sunday Independent reported today that Minister for Media Catherine Martin has received a report from the New Economy and Recovery Authority (NewERA) which had been examining RTÉ's request for extra funding and that its findings did not find against the broadcaster’s funding request.

Cormac McQuinn

Cormac McQuinn

Cormac McQuinn is a Political Correspondent at The Irish Times