RTE TV director pledges to act on criticisms

RTE's director of television, Mr Cathal Goan, said yesterday the company would "take on board" criticism levelled against it by consultants acting for the Government.

Speaking at the launch of RTE's autumn TV schedule, Mr Goan said "legitimate observations" were made by PricewaterhouseCoopers about the need for RTE to articulate its business plan better.

The consultants had been charged by the Minister for Arts, Heritage, Gaeltacht and the Islands with assessing RTE's application for a £50 licence fee increase.

Based on their findings, Ms de Valera granted a rise of £14.50 only, after a delay of more than eight months.

Mr Goan said he was not criticising RTE's application. But, he said, "we will be doing a great deal of work to get it right next time.

"There were legitimate observations about our capacity to prove we will be able to do the business. We have to prove we are more transparent and prove we are capable of better work practices."

The consultants' report said that extra funding should be withheld from RTE until it completed its cost-cutting "transformation programme".

The report also said RTE needed to do significant additional work to "flesh out" its proposals for new digital channels.

Ms de Valera has indicated she would not consider another price increase until 2003.

On the resources available to him for programme-making, Mr Goan said: "Anybody in my position would be out of their mind to say they had enough. It's my job to push for more resources to present a better schedule for the Irish people. We need more money to do that."

In the meantime, he said, "we have to keep the show on the road" and "use what we have as creatively and imaginatively as we can".

Referring to the autumn schedule, which concentrates on drama and light entertainment, Mr Goan said: "We have identified certain areas where we can do better. RTE has a proud record of producing factual programmes and current affairs but we need to improve in areas like drama, and that's what we're doing."

He stressed that "drama is not about dumbing down. It's about addressing relevant issues.

"When it comes to talking about game shows, one has to remember we are in a competitive market and I make no apology for making programmes which people want to watch."

A "significant sum of money" had been set aside and "ringfenced" for the development of drama, Mr Goan said.

Among the highlights of the new schedule are two new dramas, On Home Ground, an eight-part series based around the fortunes of a GAA club; and Bachelor's Walk, a comedy series about a group of singleton friends, along with a new situation comedy, The Cassidys.

The arrival of these productions, said Mr Goan, "is continuing proof of RTE's declared policy of devoting as much of our programming resources as possible to home production, and in particular to the development of more drama that reflects life in the 21st century.

"No other broadcaster is doing this or is likely to."

Other highlights from the autumn schedule are a six-part series on the life of singer-songwriter Christy Moore; a Network 2 entertainment show hosted by comedian Jason Byrne; and an eight-part series tracing the history and evolution of Irish food.