RTÉ recorded a €5.5 million surplus in 2024, compared to a €9.1 million deficit in 2023 according to its latest accounts.
The national broadcaster’s annual report for 2024 is expected to be brought to Cabinet by Minister for Culture Patrick O’Donovan on Wednesday.
A drop in licence fee revenues following the payments controversy which engulfed RTÉ in 2023 contributed to the deficit that year.
It is understood that the €5.5 million surplus recorded in 2024 was supported by €48 million in exchequer funding and a 4.9 per cent rise in commercial revenues to €158 million.
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Operating costs at RTÉ increased by 3.7 per cent to €362 million in 2024, mainly due to coverage or major events such as the Olympics, the Euro 2024 football tournament and a series of national elections.
It comes as RTÉ separately said on Tuesday it has increased provision in its balance sheet to provide for a number of annual payments – some dating back decades – previously listed by the broadcaster as liabilities.
One of these relates to payments to the widow of a former director general of the organisation. It did not disclose how much the payments would be.
RTÉ also said it was seeking to establish ownership of a piece of art which has been in its possession for a number of years. It is understood RTÉ believes the art piece may have been loaned to it decades ago.
Details of the historic payments made by RTÉ were set out in a report given to the Minister. The Irish Independent reported that the document set out details of “eight irregular payments, ranging between €10,000 and €30,000, mainly related to pensions”.
An RTÉ statement said “the annual payments referred to are for the most part years or decades old and were historically recorded on RTÉ’s balance sheet”.
The broadcaster said all the payments “were previously provided for by RTÉ in the balance sheet as liabilities and details were brought to the attention of the Department [of Culture].
“Four of the eight payments referred to were agreed decades ago and one of these relates to agreed payments to the widow of a former director general of RTÉ following his death,” RTÉ said.
“Following a review, RTÉ has now increased the balance sheet provision for these payments to ensure they are fully provided for.
“The remaining four payments relate to former RTÉ staff members who took early retirement within the terms of the 2017 or 2021 voluntary exit programmes and are in receipt of income replacement payments until the age of 65 as part of these programmes.”
Separately, Minister for Housing James Browne is expected to update Cabinet on social and affordable housing delivery figures for the second quarter of 2025.
Earlier this year it emerged that the State missed its target for social homes in 2024 by almost 20 per cent with some 10,596 delivered last year.
The latest delivery statistics for the second quarter in 2025 show increases compared to the same three-month period in 2024.
Some 1,757 new social homes were delivered in April, May and June, including 1,443 new-build homes, 162 acquisitions and 152 homes delivered through leasing programmes.
The number of new-build homes is 42 per cent higher than the same period last year.
The latest Social Housing Construction Status Report shows a pipeline of 26,684 social homes at various stages of design and construction as of the end of June, including 11,557 social homes on-site.
Meanwhile, some 2,312 affordable housing solutions were delivered in the second quarter of 2025, a 40 per cent increase on the same quarter last year.
Elsewhere, Minister for Education Helen McEntee is to update colleagues on the establishment of the new Education Therapy Service to provide for therapists working in special schools. The update will include that recruitment for the first 90 posts is under way.
