The Government has agreed to a €56 million bailout for RTÉ and every single staff member at the broadcaster will be impacted.  

After news broke of the broadcaster’s hidden payments to Ryan Tubridy, the number of people paying their licence fee plummeted by 30%, resulting in a €20 million loss of revenue. 

Next year, RTÉ will be required to reduce spending by €10 million and has released a strategic development plan setting out how it plans to do that. 

From now on, no member of staff will be allowed to earn more than the Director General Kevin Bakhurst, who currently earns €250,000. 

It means household names like Joe Duffy, Claire Byrne and Miriam O’Callaghan will have their salaries cut. 

The plan also promises to reduce the workforce by 20% -  meaning 400 job will be cut between 2024 and 2028. 

The broadcaster has also promised to increase by 50% the amount spent on commissioning in the independent sector and there will be a renewed focus on content creation in Cork, Galway and Limerick. 

Public trust

Speaking to The Hard Shoulder, Fianna Fáil Senator Timmy Dooley said the changes are necessary if the broadcaster is to win back the trust of people at home. 

“I think it’s about confidence and nobody is going to get into the minute detail,” he said. 

“They want to know that if they’re spending their hard pressed cash on a licence or if the Government on their behalf is spending their money directly and putting it into RTÉ, they want to feel they’re getting value for money and that there isn’t some kind of raw abandonment in relation to corporate governance - the like of which we’ve seen.” 

Director General Kevin Bakhurt said 2024 will be a “challenging year” but that by 2025 RTÉ would be “armed with a robust strategy that makes the best use of the monies available to fund our national media service”.

Main image: Miriam O'Callaghan. Picture by: Alamy.com