Upcoming elections will not “sway” Catherine Martin when she brings forward proposals for the future funding of RTÉ in the coming months, the Minister for Media has said.
Ms Martin is seeking to have the licence fee abolished and replaced by direct funding from the exchequer but there is strong opposition to this within the Cabinet, notably from Minister for Finance Michael McGrath and Minister for Public Expenditure Paschal Donohoe.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin also warned about the Exchequer funding on Sunday, underlining the continuing divide in Government.
There are widespread fears across the Government parties about transforming the existing television licence fee into a more broad-based “broadcasting charge” which would apply to every household, with some Government politicians wary that it would be seen as a new tax, similar to the now abandoned water charges which caused such political damage to the Fine Gael-Labour coalition in 2014-16.
Asked by journalists on Sunday if the June local and European election would be a factor in the timing of decisions on a new funding model for RTÉ, Ms Martin said: “That’s not something that would sway me.”
She said she expected a decision would be made before the summer and that the Government would “have to do what’s right for public service broadcasting”.
Ms Martin also played down fears that RTÉ’s editorial independence could be compromised by being financially reliant on the Government of the day – a fear that has been raised by opponents of the idea. “There are differences of opinion but the options are being considered and are being discussed in detail,” she said.
The plan to replace the licence fee with more State funding was rejected by the Government when it was proposed in 2022. But since the RTÉ scandals last year, and the resulting financial crisis at the station, Ms Martin has said that it is time to look again at the idea.
Meanwhile, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s spokesman has denied reports that the Fine Gael leader now favours exchequer funding for RTÉ to replace the licence fee.
“The Taoiseach is open-minded on options for a new model of funding of RTÉ. Government will take a decision this year and a new system of sustainable funding for public service media will be in place for 2025,” the spokesman said.
The Tánaiste sidestepped questions about Mr Varadkar’s views yesterday, telling reporters in Cork that these were “not yes or no questions. I mean, one has to tease out the issues.”
“There have been different stands and views on this. Paschal Donohoe, when he was Minister of Finance, Michael McGrath now as the current Minister of Finance have been very clear that full exchequer funding would be very, very challenging.”
He said that the “existing licence fee is going to be here for some time to come”.
“I’m very concerned that any funding model has to facilitate separation between Government and media, to guarantee the independence of media and into the future, funding will be supporting both RTÉ and public service content in other broadcasters, local, national and in print media. It is very important that independence be ring-fenced.”
Ms Martin is expected to bring proposals for a new funding scheme forward in the coming months, though these are not expected until the current round of controversy at RTÉ has abated. A series of reports on the future of the broadcaster, as well as a list of its top earners and a report on a previous redundancy scheme are expected in the coming weeks.
Two Oireachtas committees – the Committee of Public Accounts and the Committee on the Media – are also likely to hold further hearings into the various RTÉ controversies.
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