State broadcaster acts to prevent future leaking of its accounts

RTÉ has taken new security measures to prevent media leaks of its internal financial projections after confidential figures appeared in The Irish Times, writes Arthur Beesley, Political Reporter

The new measures include printing the name and address of individual recipients on every copy of its internal management accounts and the separation of such accounts into two documents.

The State broadcaster informed the Government of the new security measures weeks after The Irish Times reported that RTÉ had a deficit of €2.1 million in the first two months of the year.

In records released under the Freedom of Information Act, the broadcaster told the Government that the new security measures were required to ensure that commercially sensitive information "is not inappropriately divulged either intentionally or otherwise".

The measures were taken in respect of internal and external copies of the accounts, which are produced monthly.

RTÉ's chief financial officer, Mr Conor Hayes, apologised for any inconvenience that the measures might cause but said in correspondence that it was difficult to see what alternatives were open to him.

He said the accounts were primarily intended as a tool to facilitate effective day-to-day management of RTÉ. "They thus inevitably contain information which is highly commercially sensitive." The outline commentary on the accounts is now produced on a separate document to the accounts themselves under the measures introduced in June.

In addition, RTÉ strengthened the confidentiality disclaimer printed on the cover of each document and "enunciated" the responsibilities of recipients.

With advertising, licence fee and sponsorship income failing to meet budget targets, the development of the deficit came despite an increase in its licence fee to €150. The €2.1 million deficit in the first two months was in contrast to to the €3.1 million surplus projected for the period.

Later figures suggested that commercial revenues were €4.5 million behind target in the first three months of the year and licence fee collections were €3.8 million behind budget.