Ministerial delays in approving a voluntary redundancy scheme at RTÉ are “incredibly frustrating” and have added several million euro to the broadcaster’s operating costs this year, director general Kevin Bakhurst told staff on Wednesday.
A recruitment freeze at RTÉ introduced in September 2023 has been lifted, the RTÉ boss also said at the town hall meeting.
The public service broadcaster is this week giving the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform further information about the planned redundancy scheme as requested.
However, discussions with Ministers have stalled since the calling of the general election and RTÉ does not expect to receive the go-ahead to launch the scheme before polling day.
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Minister for Media Catherine Martin has approved the terms, but the scheme also requires the sign-off of Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Paschal Donohoe and this was not received before the Dáil was dissolved last Friday.
Mr Bakhurst said it would be a “priority” for RTÉ to press the case for the scheme as soon as a new government is formed after the election.
The plan for 40 voluntary exits in 2024 was originally submitted for approval in the spring. Since then, RTÉ has received a number of requests for more information, rather than the expected approval.
The target of 40 departures this year was first announced in November 2023 as part of Mr Bakhurst’s vision for a “more streamlined” RTÉ that will see 400 people in total exiting the organisation by the end of 2028.
The initial batch of redundancies were part of a range of cutbacks expected to save RTÉ about €10 million in operating costs this year.
The hope was that they would take place quickly, with RTÉ funding the exit packages using part of the proceeds from the 2017 sale of almost nine acres of land at its campus in Donnybrook.
RTÉ staff anticipated that the scheme would attract a high number of applications amid low morale and a feeling that there is a lack of opportunities for career progression at the broadcaster.
In July, RTÉ agreed a multiannual deal with the Government that will guarantee it public funding of €725 million over the next three years. But a green light on the redundancy scheme has proven more elusive.
It is understood that the payout terms as outlined by RTÉ are similar to those in place for its 2017 and 2021 schemes, which were both oversubscribed.
In the case of the 2021 scheme, this saw employees with at least 10 years’ service offered a total of six weeks of pay per year of service. Employees with between five and 10 years’ service were offered five weeks of pay per year of service, while staff with between two and five years’ service were offered four weeks of pay per year of service. This is inclusive of the statutory entitlement to two weeks of pay per year, with the exit packages capped at two years’ salary in all cases.
The 2017 scheme gave rise to controversy last year after it emerged that Breda O’Keeffe, former chief financial officer of RTÉ, was paid €450,000 to leave. Her application was not considered by RTÉ's executive board as required by the rules, nor did her departure lead to cost savings.
The incident has combined with a more recent string of executive payouts – agreed by Mr Bakhurst in a bid to refresh RTÉ management – to make the subject of large exit packages a sensitive one for both the Government and RTÉ.
RTÉ employees also heard that the organisation would be “vigilant” about taking on staff despite the lifting of the recruitment freeze. During the period of the freeze, it continued to hire for a number of permanent “business critical” roles, although natural attrition means its headcount has still fallen by about 100 over the past year.
Meanwhile, in early 2025, as part of its cost-saving push for greater outside commissioning, RTÉ will formally seek expressions of interest from independent production companies who believe they can make soap opera Fair City off-site. A plan to launch compulsory sign-in on the RTÉ Player is also scheduled for the first quarter.
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