'Clear reform plan' needed at RTÉ before Harris asks people to spend money on broadcaster

Higher Education Minister said RTÉ must bring forward plans to show there has been a change of culture at the broadcaster

Higher Education Simon Harris said he and his constituents believed in public service broadcasting, but licence-payer funding going towards commercial activities was going too far.

Higher Education Minister Simon Harris has said there needs to be a “clear reform plan” at RTÉ before he asks people to spend money on the public service broadcaster.

Asked if he believed the Government was taking too long to deal with the issue of the future funding model for RTÉ, Mr Harris said there first needed to be concrete reforms within the broadcaster.

“Before I ask any of my constituents in Co Wicklow to spend any more money in relation to any of these matters, and at the end of the day, that’s what Government money is, it’s not magic money, it’s money that comes from the people of Ireland, we need to see a very clear reform plan from RTÉ,” Mr Harris said.

The issues in RTÉ don’t begin and end with the decision around Ryan Tubridy. There is much more fundamental issues that RTÉ need to do.

“I’d respectfully suggest when people keep on saying ‘what is the Government going to do’, what is RTÉ going to do now?” 

Mr Harris said he and his constituents believed in public service broadcasting, but licence-payer funding going towards commercial activities was going too far.

RTÉ suffered another fall in TV licence revenue as new figures show sales fell by €554,000 in the third week of August, compared with the same week last year.

“The taxpayer, my constituents, the people I represent, want to and believe in funding public service broadcasting and so do I,” he told reporters.

They don’t believe in cross-subsidising commercial activities, barter accounts and some of these other issues.” 

Mr Harris said the new director general Kevin Bakhurst, had gotten off to a good start since his appointment in July.

However, the Higher Education Minister added RTÉ must bring forward plans to show there has been a change of culture at the broadcaster.

“It is for RTÉ and the RTÉ board now to come forward with a plan that shows there is a different culture, that there is a different attitude in relation to RTÉ,” Mr Harris said.

He added this plan particularly needed to have the confidence of the public that any funding of RTÉ was going into public service broadcasting.

Mr Harris said the interim report from Mazars into RTÉ’s barter account would be delivered in the coming days and that this would be a “very important step”. 

It comes as the Oireachtas media committee has agreed to invite Mr Bakhurst and the RTÉ board to appear before it for further questioning next month.