Government decision to retain 'completely outdated' TV licence 'inequitable'

It is expected RTÉ will get €105m in funding from the TV licence fee next year. Picture: Andy Gibson

The Government has been accused of "bottling" a crucial decision on the future funding of RTÉ by retaining the controversial TV licence model.

The decision to provide the broadcaster with €725m in public funding over the next three years has been roundly criticised by other media organisations, including Virgin Media Television, which said it now has "no alternative but to review all options including our position with regards to our existing Public Service Broadcasting commitments", given the unfair financial advantage RTÉ will have.

Media Minister Catherine Martin received Cabinet sign-off for the three-year package, but denied she was providing RTÉ with a blank cheque.

Next year RTÉ will get €225m public funding, of which €105m will likely come from the TV licence fee; a further €78m from payment of the free licences by the Department of Social Protection, while exchequer funding will amount to €42m. The total will increase to €240m in 2026 and will again rise to €260m in 2027.

However, Ms Martin could not provide a breakdown for these years, stating: "We have to wait to see what the TV license revenue will be."

The chair of the NUJ’s Broadcasting branch, Emma O'Kelly, said she was “beyond disappointed” at the Government’s €725m funding deal for RTÉ.

She said the TV licence was “completely outdated” and was also “inequitable”.

“You'd be hard pressed to find anybody to give a rationale for its continuance," Ms O'Kelly said.

This was echoed by NewsBrands Ireland, the representative body for Ireland’s national news publishers, which said RTÉ could leverage its privileged position as a publicly funded broadcaster to compete unfairly for online advertising, at the expense of independent news publishers.

Ms Martin could not say how much of RTÉ's €725m funding package will be spent on redundancies and has yet to decide if exit payments will be capped.

RTÉ has indicated it would reduce staff numbers by 400 as part of its strategy of reform, however, the breakdown between retirements, natural attrition and voluntary redundancies has not been publicly specified.

Ms Martin would not say how many redundancies have been put forward by RTÉ, saying she would not be revealing the overall figure until the redundancy scheme was signed off on.

"We are examining that at the minute," she said.