RTÉ is on course to reduce its staff numbers by 400 people over the next five years, after 65 of the 107 employees who were offered voluntary redundancy packages accepted their deal, director general Kevin Bakhurst has told an Oireachtas committee.
The national broadcaster will also outsource National Lottery draws as it continues to look for cost savings and staff reductions, the committee heard on Wednesday.
Mr Bakhurst, a former BBC News executive, also said that he has not applied for the vacant director general role at the BBC and is “very happy” in his current job.
RTÉ is aiming to shed 400 permanent roles through its voluntary exit scheme, which Mr Bakhurst said has received more than 300 applications, combined with resignations, retirements and “role suppression”.
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“We had 308 applications. We made 107 offers. We’ve had 65 acceptances of those voluntary exit offers, either severance or retirement,” he told the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Media and Communications.
“So the acceptance rate was around 63 per cent of the offers we made.”
He said the broadcaster has had about 30 resignations or retirements “where we have suppressed” or declined to backfill the roles.
About 130 retirements are expected over the next three years, and to reach the 400-person target, RTÉ will have “to look at those retirements and see which of those we can just suppress the role”, Mr Bakhurst said in response to a later question.
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“Overall, those numbers together, obviously, are up into the high 90s. So we’re still very hopeful indeed of 100 exits this year from RTÉ,” Mr Bakhurst said.
In response to questions from Social Democrats TD Sinéad Gibney, Mr Bakhurst also confirmed plans to outsource National Lottery programming as part of its cost-saving initiative.
Last month, the broadcaster confirmed plans to shut down its in-house television documentary unit and has already announced that it will switch production of some religious programming, specifically “Christian worship content”, to outside producers.
Although the department has retained a commissioning editor, it means Masses will no longer be broadcast from Donnybrook and instead will be produced by churches nationwide.
RTÉ also plans to outsource production of The Late Late Show and Fair City to external producers.
Asked by Ms Gibney if management is targeting any other programmes, Mr Bakhurst said: “The Lotto will be going out, because that costs a lot of money to do. It’s a better way to do it, and also enables us to let a few more people leave who couldn’t leave this year.”
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Separately, Fianna Fáil TD Malcolm Byrne asked Mr Bakhurst if there was “any temptation” to apply for the vacant role of director general at his former employer, the BBC.
“I don’t think I can leave because Marty Morrissey has told me I’m not allowed to,” replied Mr Bakhurst, adding later in the meeting that he has not applied for the job and is “very happy” in RTÉ.
The BBC job was vacated in November after the resignation of Tim Davie amid criticism of perceived editorial bias at the broadcaster.
