RTE queries inclusion of £7m downturn

The RTE Authority is urgently seeking clarification on whether the £7 million downturn in RTE's commercial revenue was omitted…

The RTE Authority is urgently seeking clarification on whether the £7 million downturn in RTE's commercial revenue was omitted from a report on the television licence-fee increase.

If the commercial downturn figures were not included, the licence fee should have been increased by £21 and not £14.50, sources close to the authority said.

The Taoiseach, Mr Ahern, however, said he supported the decision by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands, Ms de Valera, to give RTE a fraction of the increase sought.

The authority is to request that a reassessment of the licence fee be carried out in April 2002 and not 2003 as has been scheduled.

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The authority will contact the authors of the report, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to discuss its assessment of the increase.

"The decision may not have taken account of the up-to-date projections of RTE's commercial revenue in the current climate," a statement from the authority said.

It is also concerned at a number of inaccuracies in the report regarding apparent discrepancies in RTE figures for home produced programmes and staffing levels.

After a special meeting yesterday to discuss the increase, the authority said it was concerned it would be unable to maintain the current level of broadcasting services given the increase awarded. This would include both the quality and range of programmes and services.

The authority is to meet on Friday to further discuss the PricewaterhouseCoopers report, commissioned by Ms de Valera. Following next week's meeting it will seek to take up a number of issues with the Minister, it said.

Speaking in Co Kildare, the Taoiseach said of Ms de Valera's decision: "I support what she's done but she's also made it clear that there are other outstanding issues that have to be dealt with and that when those are dealt with she will look again. So from my point of view, I think the quicker that's done the better." Asked if he felt RTE could continue as a public service broadcaster with the increase it received he said he was not involved in the detail.

"I'm very much in support of public service broadcasting. I always have been and will continue to be," Mr Ahern said.

The Minister for Finance, Mr McCreevy, said the decision on the licence fee increase was a collective Cabinet decision, adding that it was one he stood over.

Meanwhile, RTE said yesterday there were no plans to launch television channels RTE 1 and Network 2 on the Sky Digital platform, despite media reports. "This is not the case, and we wish to confirm that RTE has no plans to launch its services as part of the Sky Digital satellite package," the station said.