RTÉ has put an estimated cost of €1.75 million on its plan to distribute non-taxable vouchers, valued up to €1,000, to staff.
That is according to tender documents for the planned voucher giveaway which states that there will be around 1,900 employees receiving the cards in 2025.
The vouchers are part of an interim arrangement agreed by RTÉ and the RTÉ Trade Union Group (TUG), which will see the non-taxable voucher of up to €1,000 being provided to staff who are in employment with the broadcaster on December 31st this year.
An RTÉ spokesman said on Thursday that the vouchers “will issue as early as possible in the new year following a tender process”.
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He said that, following a conciliation conference held on November 26th, RTÉ and the TUG announced to staff that they have agreed to continue discussions on a TUG pay claim in 2025.
He said that the interim arrangement will run until April 30th next year, at which point a new collective pay agreement will take effect.
The TUG in October lodged a pay claim on behalf of RTÉ staff seeking a flat rate increase of €1,500, plus 6 per cent.
The RTÉ tender estimates that 1,600 vouchers valued at €1,000 will be distributed.
It also estimates that a further 200 valued at €600 will be given out, with an estimated 100 valued at €200 also to be provided.
The tender states that “the issuing of voucher cards to employees each year is not guaranteed. The amount issued on the card will not be the same value for each employee”.
The voucher “is to be a physical card and not a digital/mobile voucher”, and “it is important that the vouchers can be used across a wide range of sectors to accommodate the diverse nature of the recipients”.
The tender also states that firms seeking to tender have until January 10th and RTÉ expects to award the contract on January 31st.
The last RTÉ pay claim agreement was in November 2022, when RTÉ staff received a 6 per cent pay increase, over a two-year period, with a 3 per cent increase in January 2023, backdated to December 2022, a 1.5 per cent increase in October, and a further 1.5 per cent on April 30th, 2024.
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