More than 300 RTÉ employees have applied for a voluntary redundancy scheme, which is expected to lead to exits from October.
The voluntary exit scheme, under which payouts would be capped at €300,000, was opened last month as the broadcaster seeks to reduce staff numbers by 400.
In an email to employees on Friday, RTÉ’s director general Kevin Bakhurst confirmed 325 applications had been received and the 2025 scheme has now closed.
Applications are to go through a five-stage review process throughout the coming months, he said, with final decisions on all applications made by RTÉ’s leadership team and the board’s remuneration and management committee.
Nine of a doctor’s 10 children killed in Israel’s latest strikes in Gaza
Vogue Williams: ‘Spencer ran towards me with red flags hanging off him in every direction’
David McWilliams: There are signs of overheating everywhere you look in Ireland’s economy
Bono defends taking honour from Joe Biden and questions ‘competitive empathy’ over Gaza
“Review of applications has already commenced,” he said, adding that final decisions will be communicated from September 1st.
Exits of successful applicants will take place on October 31st, November 30th and December 31st, he said.
He told employees where decisions are “straightforward” and approved, “we will make every effort to allow these people leave the organisation as early as is practical, without unduly impacting our operations”.
Mr Bakhurst said applications would only be approved where a “robust” business case is made, “and it is confirmed that the role can be suppressed or that equivalent savings can be made by suppressing an alternative post and/or redeploying an employee into that role”.
The scheme, which is not open to senior management, was open to employees who have completed at least two years’ of continuous service.
It is understood those with two to five years’ service will be entitled to four weeks’ pay per year of service, those with five to 10 years will qualify for five weeks per year, while those with more than 10 years’ service will receive six weeks’ pay per year.
