RTÉ suspends hiring €240K Fair City photographer amid backlash

RTE director general Kevin Bakhurst.

RTÉ has suspended plans to hire a Fair City photographer amid a backlash against the spending.

The Irish Examiner revealed that the public broadcaster was to spend €240,000 over four years retaining a professional photographer to capture still images of the soap while in production.

The role was to require a 20-hour week from the successful candidate, over the course of three days, for 50 weeks of the year, to produce a minimum of 16 stills of the show.

In a statement on Sunday, RTÉ said it has “decided to suspend the current public tender process for Fair City photography.” 

The statement said the decision comes following last week’s announcement from Director General Kevin Bakhurst that an immediate recruitment freeze was being put in place as well as stopping all discretionary spending.

“RTÉ will pause the tender process and take time to review the volume of photography required and length of the contract, among other considerations. A revised tender document will issue once these decisions have been made,” the statement read.

Mr Bakhurst said that given the fall in the licence fee and the uncertainty over interim funding, and following last week’s announcements, RTÉ has decided to halt the current tender process for Fair City photography.

He said in a statement: “While quality professional photography is essential to enable us to promote our programmes and engage audiences, it is not possible for RTÉ to commit to a four-year contract or to this level of spend given the challenges we now face.

“So, we have decided to take time to consider the best way to balance the needs of the series with the need to reduce costs where we can.

“We will continue to explore how we can cut costs and maximise funding of our public services through commercial revenue, while also working hard to restore trust in RTÉ.” 

The fresh statement today comes just three days after the national broadcaster moved to clarify the nature of a contract and said it “cannot overstate” the importance of that role.

The matter was raised at the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday where Mr Bakhurst along with RTÉ Executives and the Board were facing questioning about cost-cutting at the station.

Mr Bakhurst told the committee that he wanted to “know more about that” when quizzed about the Fair City contract.

“I have asked that question. I want to know exactly what the deal is,” he said, adding that he could “not believe that, on the face of it, it is as published”.

“I cannot believe it is just for the work as described in one line,” Mr Bakhurst said.

In a statement on Thursday however, RTÉ said of the contract that “popular soaps, such as Fair City, with multiple characters and multiple unfolding storylines have a sustained need for high-quality imagery across the year”.

Executive producer of the soap, Brigie de Courcy, added: “I cannot overstate the importance of high-quality, highly-curated photography in promoting Fair City in the busy landscape of press and digital publicity."