RTÉ set for industrial relations tribunal if pay cut proposal fails, says Forbes

The director general of RTÉ has said the organisation will probably have to go to the industrial relations tribunal if staff do not vote for a new pay cut.

Employees at the State broadcaster are voting on the proposed cuts which come as part of RTÉ’s plan for significant cost savings.

Dee Forbes, who has been leading RTÉ for five years, said a plan for the broadcaster’s future had been outlined in 2019, which required the broadcaster to stabilise and increase revenue.

Ms Forbes said the organisation also needed to increase public funding and reduce its cost base by €60 million over a three-year period. Reductions in staff costs is “not the biggest piece” of these cost-cutting measures, but equates to about 15 per cent, she said. The pay cut proposal is for a two-year period.

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“If the ballot is not passed then we are back on the table again, and we are probably at the industrial relations tribunal,” Ms Forbes told RTÉ Radio One’s The Business.

RTÉ will also start another voluntary exit plan soon, which will see the company reorganising itself once again to “do what we do with less staff”, Ms Forbes said. Over the last decade the public service broadcaster has been shrinking in size, she said, but it “will have to get smaller still”.

‘Adaptability’

RTÉ has shown “adaptability” throughout the pandemic and in the years prior as it cut costs and reduced its headcount, she said. Operating costs have already reduced by €100 million over the last 10 years. A combination of new technology and “sheer graft” from employees has enabled the organisation to continue to provide a valuable service, she added.

Asked about RTÉ’s record on raising commercial revenue, she said advertising is “on the up” because it is providing premium Irish content to big audiences.

“Of course we have to drive commercial revenue. What drives commercial revenue? Audience delivery, and our audiences have been incredibly strong throughout the pandemic,” she said.

The company had “very ambitious plans” to diversify its revenue through events, such as taking the concert orchestra on tour and bringing a bigger live audience to programmes such as the Late Late Show. These had to be put on hold due to the pandemic, she said.

But many independent reviews of RTÉ have said the organisation is underfunded and that it has been clear for many years now that the licence fee funding model as it stands is “not fit for purpose”, Ms Forbes went on. She said she hopes the Future of Media Commission will provide a “clear roadmap” on the funding of public service broadcasting and other media in Ireland.

Funding

“Over the last 10 to 15 years the funding mechanism has not changed, yet RTÉ’s expectations and objectives have increased,” she said.

The €107 million received from the sale of part of RTÉ’s Montrose site is ring-fenced for voluntary redundancies, reducing debt, and for investing in capital projects such as upgrading studios and digitising the archives, she said.

Ms Forbes also spoke about shelved plans to sell the RTÉ Guide magazine and to move Lyric FM from its Limerick studio. Ms Forbes said the broadcaster held on to the magazine, which is making money, as there “was not a good enough offer”.

The top earners at RTÉ have taken a 15 per cent pay cut, while the executive board’s salaries have reduced by 10 per cent, she said. “Anomalies” in the RTÉ budget, such as €800,000 spent on car allowances, are part of a package that must be addressed, she said.

“Many of these are legacy things that have been there for many, many years. We’ve got to come with a system that is fit for purpose for the 2020s.”