RTÉ ad featuring paid extras costs €77,000 as staff criticise newsroom 'props'

Kevin Bakhurst, left, defends controversial promo film as staff backlash over newsroom extras and ad budget continues. Picture: Sam Boal/Collins

An ad promoting RTÉ's news output, which will feature paid extras, has cost €77,000 to date, with a total budget of €100,000, TDs and senators have been told.

Filming has taken place in recent weeks for a promotional film which outlines a day in the life of three high-profile reporters, but has prompted some backlash from staff for its use of extras in the newsroom and what have been described as "props".

On Wednesday, the broadcaster's senior management and chair appeared before the Oireachtas media committee to discuss several issues, including a €3.6m write-down on an ICT project that was partially abandoned.

However, much focus was placed on the advert, on which staff have asked management to stop working.

Asked by Carlow-Kilkenny TD Peter “Chap” Cleere about the ad, RTÉ director-general Kevin Bakhurst said he was “delighted” to address the question. He said much of the commentary surrounding the advertisement was incorrect and this had “infuriated” him.

“There were two plants. Even when you are filming news interviews there will be people who wear make-up, they have lighting, you might have plants so that the shot looks better.”

Mr Bakhurst said “proper conversations” had taken place between the organisation’s marketing and editorial teams.

“The initial request was, can some journalists from the newsroom sit in the background — they would be blurred out — while we are filming this for several hours and the answer was ‘no our journalists are too busy’,” he said.

Mr Bakhurst later rejected a claim from committee chair Alan Kelly it was “bananas” for RTÉ to use an outside company to film an ad for itself. He said while there was an in-house production team, the “standard practice” was to use external expertise for such projects.

Mr Bakhurst said a recent staff survey showed morale in RTÉ was high in some areas but “needs work” in others. He denied claims staff morale was “at an all-time low.”

"I've always had, since I started, an open-door policy. Anyone can come and see me, and they've taken me up on that. I go around and see teams. There are ongoing challenges for the organisation, and there is a legacy of, I would say, a lack of trust of senior management, a gap between senior management and the organisation, and a high level of anger about what happened during the crisis."

Later in the session, RTÉ’s director general said he “cannot promise” there are no further financial scandals at the broadcaster. However, Mr Bakhurst told the committee he was not currently aware of any.

Asked by Cork North-Central TD Pádraig O’Sullivan whether Ryan Tubridy had repaid the €150,000 in payments that sparked the scandal surrounding the broadcaster’s accounts nearly two years ago, Mr Bakhurst said he had not. He added he would like Mr Tubridy to repay the money but said RTÉ did not have the legal recourse to force him to do so.

In a separate exchange, Independent senator Rónán Mullen asked whether Mr Bakhurst would question staff on their personal views on social issues, suggesting a “silent majority” may feel underrepresented. Mr Bakhurst responded such a move would be “North Korean”, and said he would not interrogate staff on their beliefs.