RTE has brought forward a meeting of its Authority to next Friday to consider the implications of the Government's rejection of a claim for a £50 increase in the TV licence fee.
Arts Minister Ms de Valera, who has responsibility for broadcasting, said yesterday the increase would be set at £14.50, though she said RTE might apply in 2003 for a further increase.
RTE said it found her decision "very disappointing" and it raises "very challenging questions for the organisation".
The station claimed the case for a £50 increase had been "fully argued and justified". Ms de Valera said consultants she had retained did not agree.
The chairman of rival TV3, Mr James Morris, said last night he welcomed the Government's intent to make RTE's finances more transparent.
He saw the increase for RTE as merely "a small amount of funds to stop a cash-flow crisis". Ms de Valera recommended, and the Government agreed, that there should be a delay in providing increased funding for new or improved quality indigenous production or the development of digital channels "at this time". Costs in RTE must be reduced, the Minister said.
Meanwhile, RTE staff were presented yesterday with a series of cost-cutting measures, including a 30 per cent reduction in the use of taxis.
Free copies of the RTE Guide to staff will be reduced from 3,000 to 2,000. The cost of personal phone calls by staff must be reimbursed to the station. RTE said this was already a rule "but it will be more closely monitored from now on".
Both Fine Gael and Labour criticised the Government's decision.
Fine Gael's spokesman on broadcasting, Mr Dinny McGinley, said it showed the Minister had no commitment to public-sector broadcasting.
Mr McGinley said that unless the Government addressed the situation properly, RTE would have to sell Montrose in a few years' time "just to stay on air".
The Labour Party spokesman on broadcasting, Mr Brian O'Shea, called for the publication of the report by Ms de Valera's consultants, which led to the scaling back of the licence fee increase. He said the postponement of digital services in RTE would have particularly serious consequences for the station.
The licence fee increase comes into effect on September 1st. A colour licence will go from £70 to £84.50. A black and white TV licence will cost £68.50.