RTÉ redundancy scheme to open this month with payments capped at €300,000 

It comes after the Government gave the broadcaster the green light last month to press ahead with its voluntary redundancy plan aimed at cutting costs.

Staff at broadcaster RTÉ have been told that its redundancy scheme will open later this month, with payments set to be capped at €300,000.

In an update to workers on Wednesday, RTÉ’s HR director Eimear Cusack said it is planned to open the redundancy scheme after the Easter weekend with Wednesday, April 23 set to be the date “provided all necessary materials have been finalised”.

It comes after the Government gave the broadcaster the green light last month to press ahead with its voluntary redundancy plan aimed at cutting costs.

RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst said it was a key milestone as it aims to implement its new five-year strategy, having expressed frustration last year that the Government had not approved the redundancy plan sooner.

As part of this strategy published last year, RTÉ said it wanted to reduce staff numbers by up to 400 with the initial phase seeing it aim to secure 40 redundancies.

RTÉ had said the redundancies would “realise savings in our people costs” and would mean “reduced overheads on a smaller physical footprint” in its Donnybrook campus.

It is understood that some staff within the news and current affairs team are considering applying for the scheme. In the update to staff Wednesday, the HR director said they would be kept aware of when the scheme goes live.

“The Voluntary Exit Programme (VEP) will remain open for four weeks,” she said. “The VEP consists of: (i) Voluntary Severance which will be available to employees under 55 and (ii) Voluntary Early Retirement which will be available to employees aged 55 and over.

“To be eligible, staff must have at least two years of continuous service. Members of the Leadership Team are not eligible to apply.” 

She said that all those who have their applications as part of the scheme will leave RTÉ later this year, on or before New Year’s Eve.

“The terms will replicate the 2017 and 2021 schemes, with a cap of €300k on payments,” she added.

“Full details of the VEP will be provided when the programme opens during the week after Easter.”