RTÉ SPENT over €300,000 on taxis last year. A breakdown of the broadcaster’s taxi costs for 2011 shows that it spent €305,997 on such transport, a 6 per cent decrease on its equivalent costs in 2010, when its taxi spend stood at €326,962.
The figures, released to The Irish Times under a Freedom of Information request, show that the TV arm of RTÉ accounted for almost half of its taxi costs, with a bill amounting to €142,371. This represented a reduction of 2 per cent when compared to the section’s spend in 2010.
The news arm of the station spent €74,193 on taxis last year, a 12.5 per cent decrease on 2010, while cab costs in the radio division came to €56,359, 14 per cent lower than a year previously.
Among top-rated programmes, The Late Late Show spent almost €12,000 on taxis, while RTÉ’s Monday night current affairs programme The Frontline accrued just over €6,000.
In contrast, The Sunday Game, which has a regular panel and fewer guest slots, recorded a taxi bill of just €732.
The station’s publishing division accrued €15,477 in taxi bills last year, while its corporate division spent €13,438.
An RTÉ spokesman noted that the figures captured only docketed spending with contracted cab companies and did not include individual members of staff using taxis who then claimed the expense on production of receipts.