Good morning,
After a summer of drama, here comes the next episode in the RTÉ saga. Staff at the broadcaster will today be briefed on its plans to slash staff numbers by 20 per cent - about 400 people, in a voluntary process - cut some services, outsource others, and examine the sale of part of its Donnybrook campus. The plan, which was shared with the Government last week, pledges to reduce costs by €10 million in 2024 and institute a new approach to financial management - which, given all we have learned, is hardly surprising.
There are promises about investment too, of course - in digital output, independent production, and in moving parts of the operation outside Dublin. However, before any of that longer-term stuff gets under way, the first hurdle will be whether the Government considers the plan sufficiently credible to part with €40 million sought by the broadcaster to keep the lights on in the coming months.
The next challenge looks like a battle with RTÉ unions, who seem to be genuinely taken aback at the scale of job cuts flagged and deeply annoyed at the news leaking before staff were told. It’s worth remembering that when these kinds of numbers were first reported by the Mail on Sunday during the summer, the Government was quick to squash them, with Minister of State Ossian Smyth saying there was “no truth” to reports of plans to cut jobs. There is, of course, a difference between a voluntary and involuntary redundancy, and these are plans by the broadcaster not the Government, but expect these denials to be thrown back in Coalition faces.
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Finally, the key question is whether the Government will cut a deal on the longer-term future funding of the broadcaster, including the licence fee model, deemed sustainable by all sides. That will be the reckoning that has been coming since the controversy over undisclosed payments to Ryan Tubridy first erupted.
But read all about it in our lead story here.
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Playbook
Cabinet is scheduled for the usual time and place - 9am in Government Buildings. The RTÉ plan is not going to be discussed by Ministers, with the main focus likely to be on housing (vacancy and dereliction measures) and the details of the Government’s energy security review. Read more on what’s coming up at Cabinet here.
The main post-Cabinet set piece will be a press conference with Minister for Housing Darragh O’Brien on those measures.
Away from Leinster House, President Michael D Higgins will receive the family of Emily Hand, and other families of hostages taken by Hamas being held in Gaza.
In the afternoon, watch for fireworks from Montrose as staff are briefed on the future plan for RTÉ at 3.30pm.
Expect the ongoing crisis in Gaza to be the centre of the parliamentary day. Sinn Féin have a motion calling on the Government to refer Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) at teatime, as the Opposition seeks to ratchet up the pressure on the Government to further toughen up its stance. The Dáil day starts at 2pm with Leaders’ Questions, followed by Government business in the afternoon, where legislation enabling the revision of Dáil constituencies is before the House. In the evening, Heather Humphreys takes oral questions in her rural and community development brief, before topical issues.
The full Dáil schedule is here.
In the Seanad, public health legislation which is due to be amended to allow for tighter regulation of vapes is at second stage in the afternoon.
The full Seanad schedule is here.
It’s a busy day at the Oireachtas committees, starting at 10.30am at the joint committee on assisted dying, which is focusing on protecting vulnerable people from coercion. The environment committee meets to discuss the Citizens’ Assembly report on biodiversity loss, while in the afternoon, the finance committee meets at 2.30pm to discuss the thorny issue of spending in the health service. At 3pm, the committee on children and youth meets with officials on issues facing the early childhood sector, while the foreign affairs committee meets with UN officials on the global humanitarian landscape. Helen McEntee is in front of the justice committee at 4pm on the new sexual offences and human trafficking Bill.
The full committee schedule is here.
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