Minister for Media Catherine Martin has not ruled out the possibility of capping remuneration levels for top presenters and executives at RTÉ.
While the Minister has said such a decision would involve a departure from long-standing policy, that does not mean that a decision to cap pay “would be wrong”.
The Minister set out her position on pay levels at a time RTÉ's top-paid broadcaster Ryan Tubridy is due to meet director general Kevin Bakhurst to discuss his future with the organisation and an appropriate level of remuneration for his daily radio show, should he continue with RTÉ.
Mr Bakhurst indicated to The Irish Times last Friday that he would contact Mr Tubridy this week to hold a series of discussions with the presenter. Contacted on Wednesday, RTÉ was not in a position to say when the meeting between the two men will take place.
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In a response to a parliamentary question, Ms Martin said she fully understood the rationale for calls for a cap on remuneration. However, she said that the current statutory position is that RTÉ is free to determine the remuneration of its staff and contractors.
She said the only exception to that was the director general, whose salary level requires the agreement of the Government. This has been the position with regard to the director general since RTÉ was established in 1960, she said.
In her response to Richard Boyd Barrett of People Before Profit (PBP), she added that this did not mean she would oppose a change.
“The introduction of a cap on remuneration would be a departure from long-standing policy. This does not mean that it would be wrong, but it does mean that it would require very careful consideration,” she said.
Ms Martin said the independent examination of RTÉ would review contract fees, how presenters and contractors are engaged, the use of agents and the impact of costs borne by RTÉ.
“In this context, the expert advisory group appointed to carry out the review may examine a cap on remuneration should they consider it appropriate,” she said.
She said that she would not prejudge or seek to influence the review but would consider all of its recommendations very carefully.
In a separate response to Paul Murphy (PBP) who asked if RTÉ should move away entirely from its current dual model of licence fee and commercial revenue, Ms Martin said the Future of Media Commission had considered the question of moving to a fully State-funded model but concluded it would be unfeasible. A fully State-backed model, or a fully commercial model would not deliver the levels of income to cover the costs of the broadcaster. It would mean, for example, an increase in the licence fee from €160 to €260 to replace all commercial revenues.
The Government rejected another of the commission’s recommendations, the abolition of the licence fee. There is a compliance rate among households of only 50 per cent at present. Last year, An Post (which collects the licence fee) applied for almost 15,000 summonses against households for failure to pay the licence.
An internal working group has looked at ways to modernise the licence, improve collections rates, and broaden the definition of public service broadcasting to include other media forms. The group has submitted its report to Ms Martin on this future funding model.
However, she said, she has paused her decision on implementing the report until the independent examination of RTÉ has been completed and its findings considered.
“Public service broadcasting is of vital importance to our society and democracy. As difficult as it is given all that we have learned over recent weeks, I will be considering whether RTÉ needs short term exchequer support in the coming period with the Minister for Public Expenditure [Paschal Donohoe],” she told Mr Murphy.
