RTÉ seeks to save €25m in cutbacks

RTÉ IS to make a series of major cutbacks, including reductions in sports rights, regional costs and “star” salaries as it attempts to pull itself out of a €20 million operating deficit.

In a message to staff yesterday, RTÉ director general Noel Curran said a new voluntary redundancy scheme would be opened in a bid to further reduce employee numbers, saving €15 million, as part of attempts to cut costs by €25 million by the end of 2013.

The State broadcaster’s London office will close, affecting five staff, as part of the plan to eliminate the financial deficit that has been on its books since 2008.

Mr Curran told staff that RTÉ’s deficit, set to reach €20 million by the end of 2012, was “not sustainable” and cutbacks were “vital” to secure its future.

Plans to cut sums paid to leading presenters were on track, with fees paid to its top 10 presenters set to fall by more than 30 per cent between 2008 and 2013. Contract negotiations are being extended to the next 10 highest paid presenters, where fee reductions “in excess of 30 per cent” are also under way.

There will be “substantial cuts” in the budget for all contractors and suppliers, while management will meet unions after Easter in relation to proposed new work practices.

No compulsory redundancies will be made.

Programming budgets will also be targeted, with sports coverage taking the brunt with a 25 per cent cut in spending on sports rights by 2014.

Although no sport will have spending ringfenced, GAA will be prioritised. Contracts that cannot be renegotiated will be let slide, even if they are valuable properties such as Champions’ League rights.

Money spent on overseas programme acquisitions will be reduced by 10 per cent. Savings in regional operating costs will be partly achieved by avoiding “duplication of effort” – for example, in its Irish language news activities – although there will be no reduction in output.

The five staff at RTÉ’s London office will be offered different working arrangements and the office, located in the prime Milbank area, is likely to be rented out. It has not yet been determined if RTÉ News will continue to base a reporter in the capital or if it will cover British affairs from Dublin or Belfast.

As of this week, 170 people have left the organisation under RTÉ’s current redundancy scheme, leaving numbers at some 1,900. More employees are due to leave before the summer. It is hoped a further 200-300 will leave under the new scheme, which is understood to include a better offer for staff who belong to its defined contribution pension scheme.

Citing pressures on public funding and commercial revenues, Mr Curran warned staff that further cuts may be required.