RTÉ selling land 'doesn't create sustainability', Government cautions
Tánaiste Micheál Martin also signalled he was against selling more RTÉ land saying "often selling land is something you regret later".
Government has cautioned against any sale of land at RTÉ with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar saying such a move would have to make sense.
Mr Varadkar also said that the Government wants its own accountants in NewEra to “go through the books” at RTÉ to “make sure any request for financial support actually adds up”.
His comments come after Director General of RTÉ Kevin Bakhurst said a valuation of the Montrose site at Donnybrook is underway and the potential sale of a part or all of the site is not off the table as a cost-cutting measure.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin also signalled he was against selling more RTÉ land saying "often selling land is something you regret later".
Speaking in Foynes in Limerick, Mr Varakdar said Government is not going to “make any demands” to RTÉ to sell land. “I think before any more of the site is sold, it needs to be worked out. Like it might make sense to sell part of it, [it] might make sense to sell all of it.
“But of course, if RTÉ has relocated, there'll be costs associated with that too. So it's important that things are done that makes sense, not just for demonstration.”
Mr Varadkar said the Government wants to hear from Mr Bakhurst and the Board about their plans to improve the financial position of RTÉ as a company but also “vision” for a successful broadcaster into the future.
“I think the DG has made some very tough decisions in the recent days around the recruitment freeze and cutting back on so many allowances. And obviously government will be engaging with RTÉ about additional funding for this year and future years.”
When asked about Kerry TD Brendan Griffin’s comments at Wednesday's Oireachtas media committee about preferring to spend the cost of a TV licence on a round of drinks, the Taoiseach said Mr Griffin was expressing “frustration” felt by a lot of the public at the revelations coming from RTÉ.
However, Mr Varadkar called on people to continue to pay their licence fee. “What I'm saying to people, I'm asking them to continue to pay their TV licence.
“Not because it's the law, but because it does fund broadcasting in Ireland and not just RTÉ. It funds private broadcasters as well, content creators, children's programmes, Irish language programming, and important news programming, programming from all the regions in Ireland and that's why I'm paying and that's why I encourage other people to do so.”
On funding for the broadcaster, Mr Varadkar said Government needs to see Mr Bakhurst’s plan first before any decision is made.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that while he does not want to "give in to being the person who has to come up with a detailed plan" for the broadcaster, he is not convinced selling Montrose is a sensible step.
Describing the suggestion as "silly", Mr Martin said: "You can say sell the land, but that doesn't create sustainability. These [land sales] are a once-off, it creates once-off capital revenue, it doesn't deal with long-term sustainability."
The Tánaiste also said he is "not entirely comfortable" with the way RTÉ management engaged with former presenter Ryan Tubridy.
Mr Martin said while he did not want to "get into personalities again on this", he had concerns over what took place.
Mr Bakhurst told the media committee on Wednesday that lawyers acting for Mr Tubridy had sent legal letters to RTÉ after negotiations ended to bring him back on air last month.
“It’s fair to say there is a dispute over the contract,” Mr Bakhurst said, while RTÉ’s head of legal affairs Paula Mullooly said that “there has been an exchange of legal correspondence and we take a different view on the position of Ryan Tubridy’s contract”.
Mr Martin said: "I'm not entirely comfortable with how all of this has been dealt with by RTÉ. I think the Grant Thornton report laid it out, I think there's a more fundamental issue, which is about the governance of RTÉ, the lack of authority from RTÉ in all of the issues that arose over the summer, and a lack of coherence.
"In my view, the essential question is not about personalities, it's about how we develop a robust public media provision in the country," he said.
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