RTÉ executive tells Labour Court of 'stagnation' at broadcaster over financial constraints

Mr MacGiolla Phádraig’s comments were made at a resumed hearing of RTÉ’s appeal against a ruling by the Workplace Relations Commission which ordered it to pay €100,000 to a former employee for discriminating against her on age grounds. File photo

A senior RTÉ executive has admitted a sense of “stagnation” is felt across the organisation over financial constraints which prevent new talent coming through its producer and director ranks.

The station’s group head of factual, Seán Mac Giolla Phádraig, told the Labour Court that RTÉ was “in a state of existential crisis” over the lack of promotional opportunities among programme makers.

Mr MacGiolla Phádraig’s comments were made at a resumed hearing of RTÉ’s appeal against a ruling by the Workplace Relations Commission which ordered it to pay €100,000 to a former employee for discriminating against her on age grounds.

The WRC ruled that producer and director, Anne Roper, had been forced to retire in 2018 when she reached her 65th birthday despite looking to work for a further 18 months and before a grievance process had been concluded. The Labour Court heard her employment contract did not specify a retirement age.

RTÉ has argued that a compulsory retirement age of 65 is necessary to ensure “inter-generational fairness” as well as to create promotional opportunities and generate appropriate content to attract younger viewers.

Due to RTÉ’s financial constraints, Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig said new producers and directors could only be appointed as a result of promotion or retirement.

The Labour Court heard only two producers had resigned since 2012 and the last training course for new producer/directors in RTÉ had been in 2014.

He said the lack of new programme makers had an impact across all grades with many assistant producers and directors, who showed a lot of potential, leaving RTÉ out of frustration at the lack of promotional opportunities.

Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig admitted such a situation was not good for morale or programming “as we constantly need a flow of fresh ideas.” Questioned by Marguerite Bolger SC for RTÉ, Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig said Ms Roper’s retirement had allowed RTÉ to hire a new producer as well as promote someone on a lower grade.

He described Ms Roper as “a fantastic producer/director and a great documentary maker”. While he stressed the issue was never about her ability, Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig noted that her range of skills were not unique and he also understood she wanted to stay on indefinitely in her role.

“Allowing Anne to stay isn’t going to allow other people come through the organisation,” he added.

Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig acknowledged that RTÉ had allowed some staff to stay on working beyond 65 but claimed they were exceptional circumstances and mostly involved “on-air talent”.

He said RTÉ planned programmes 18 months in advance and it would have been difficult to find a role for Ms Roper at such short notice.

Cross-examined by Pádraig Lyons BL for Ms Roper, Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig admitted she might have been kept on if she had made a business case for an extension to her job.

However, he added: 

To have kept the same producer/director on indefinitely would have been unfair to the people underneath them.

In response to Mr Lyons’s observation that Ms Roper had her career and income terminated “with no questions asked”, Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig said RTÉ had striven to strike a fair balance between her and younger staff.

He disagreed with the suggestion that RTÉ’s response was disproportionate.

Labour Court deputy chairman, Alan Haugh, questioned if Mr Mac Giolla Phádraig’s views were consistent given he admitted that the outcome might have been different if Ms Roper had proposed “a great documentary”.

Another witness, RTÉ’s deputy director of content, Niamh O’Connor, said older producers could make programmes for younger people but RTÉ wanted “a better mix of experience and age” given the average age of producers in the station was 48.

Like all public service broadcasters, Ms O’Connor said RTÉ faced a challenge of getting younger audiences to view content on its platforms.

She pointed out that there was a low attrition rate of producers within RTÉ as pay levels and job security in the independent sector were considerably less.

Under cross-examination, Ms O’Connor denied that it was necessary for RTÉ to retire all staff at 65 in order to make programmes appealing to young people.

The hearing continues on Wednesday.