Madam, – Media lawyer James Hickey’s address to the Burren Law School (RTÉ has “too many managers and not enough artists”; page 4, May 4th) offered an inaccurate and analysis of RTÉ’s willingness to resource creative work.
Mr Hickey claimed that RTÉ has 2,300 employees “but only 38 television producers”, concluding: “it speaks for itself in terms of what they do”. He argued from this that RTÉ devotes too little of its licence fee income towards creative activity, adding: “that particular subsidy [has] to be properly looked at in terms of whether it is properly being spent on the work of creating wonderful television and radio programmes . . . or is too much of it going into administration.”
RTÉ Television in fact has 69 producers, not 38 as stated by Mr Hickey. There are a further 28 assistant producers delivering the full range of creative tasks but with a less senior organisational / administrative responsibility. These 97 personnel are leaders of or key players in multi-skilled, creative teams which also include researchers, graphic artists, editors, camera operators, designers and other key creatives. These 97 are also more properly seen as a proportion of 855 current total staff in television – not of the 2,351 total RTÉ personnel that includes all news, radio, publishing/ online, performing groups and network staff. The proper ratio may indeed speak for itself, but is somewhat different to the picture offered by Mr Hickey.
Mr Hickey also stated that RTÉ has 363 managers, or one manager for every six persons employed. As of end 2008 there were 319 staff of managerial grade. Some of these have substantive creative functions including content commissioning, graphic or web design, etc. Many others are technical, legal or other specialists as distinct from people managers. In either case Mr Hickey’s equation of manager grades with pure administration is simplistic.
RTÉ makes an absolute priority of putting its money on screen and on air. RTÉ television spent €200 million on new, original Irish programmes in 2008 of which €76 million came from independent production companies outside RTÉ (Mr Hickey cites €70 million). The provision of creative service is huge. It is also cost-efficient by comparison with any other similar broadcaster. The support for creativity in the wider community, through coverage of or involvement in or sponsorship of the arts, for example, goes further still.
Mr Hickey as an expert lawyer earns fees from wide consultation on independent productions and in representation of performer talent. He has been co-director of a production company which has secured significant commissioning funds from RTÉ and has been active in the independent producers’ trade body Screen Producers Ireland. He is quite entitled to argue, as he did in Ballyvaughan, that RTÉ should spend more on independent production. However, his criticisms seriously understate the service RTÉ offers in creative output and the value it continues to deliver. – Yours, etc,