RTE’s will force the government to downsize and sell off assets like 2FM before it gets another penny from the state, reports The Mirror.
Senior ministers are adamant that there will be no blank checks left for the station and that a leaner, more efficient national broadcaster with a new look must emerge.
RTE’s 2022 annual report will be presented to the Government by Media Minister Catherine Martin in a few weeks.
It would normally be confirmed by the Council of Ministers, but ministers now plan to scrutinize every aspect of it.
A Government insider said: “In the weeks before she quit the former RTE Director General Dee Forbes had been in contact with the Government looking for a €35 million state subsidy for the station. Since then the RTE finances have collapsed with tens of thousands of people refusing to pay their licence fee and costing the broadcaster a million a week in lost revenue. The Government is not prepared to plug all the black hole with taxpayers’ money at the moment – it would be electoral suicide. Ministers will be pushing for RTE to sell some of its assets like 2FM and possibly Network Two, everything is on the table. The whole RTE payments scandal showed there is no respect for public money in Montrose and little or no accountability,” reports The Mirror.
It is understood that the government will bring a new model to finance all media next year.
It will be a public utility fee rather than a TV licence, and the money will continue to be collected by the Post and distributed to various media organisations, not just RTE.
As part of the Public Media Service Initiative, ministers intend to provide financial support to local news organizations to ensure that all court hearings and council meetings across the country are considered in the public interest.
RTE will get most of the funding, but the percentage is yet to be determined.
RTE’s new Director General Kevin Buckhurst has a battle on his mind to get ministers to back a new financial plan for the broadcaster he came in with.
The source added: “We will not be doing what RTE wants and that is to have a bigger licence fee than the current €160 collected by the Revenue Commissioners instead of An Post. This will not be happening. RTE has to change its ways in every sense of the word before it can get any more taxpayers’ money,” reports The Mirror.
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