Government cannot keep ‘plugging the hole’ in RTÉ funding, says media minister

Media minister Patrick O’Donovan said difficult decisions lie ahead over the future funding and structure of RTÉ

Communications and sport minister Patrick O'Donovan speaks to the media in Dublin. Picture: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

The Government will have to hold “difficult conversations” about the future funding of RTÉ because it cannot continue “plugging the hole”, the media minister has said.

Raising the prospect of RTÉ becoming “entirely a public body, like the BBC”, Patrick O’Donovan told the Oireachtas media committee that the current ring-fenced funding model will not continue beyond 2027.