Lacking funds RTÉ, which last year needed a €56 million bailout from taxpayers, is spending €1.75 million on staff gift cards that may be worth up to €1,000, reports The Mirror.
Approximately 1,600 workers of the national broadcaster will receive €1,000 cards, 200 will receive €600 vouchers, and 100 will receive €200 vouchers.
In order to “accommodate the diverse nature of the recipients,” RTÉ has started the procurement process for €1.75 million worth of gift cards, which it claims must be usable both online and in a variety of outlets, reports The Mirror.
Director General Kevin Bakhurst claims that the station would have gone bankrupt if it hadn’t obtained a €56 million rescue this year.
As part of the bailout, it committed to implementing a number of cost-cutting measures including eliminating 400 positions.
To ensure RTÉ’s sustainability, the government then provided €725 million in financing over three years. The broadcaster committed to tightening restrictions on discretionary expenditure, deferred major projects, and agreed to implement a recruiting freeze, reports The Mirror.
The gift certificates will be given out by RTÉ as part of a temporary agreement while pay talks with the Trade Union Group (TUG), which filed a claim for an increase in October, continue.
The broadcaster has agreed to provide its staff non-taxable gift certificates up to €1,000 in the meantime, and the talks will resume next year. Early in the new year, they should be released.
“It is important that the vouchers can be used across a wide range of sectors to accommodate the diverse nature of the recipients,” tender documents for the supply of vouchers state, reports The Mirror.
“The manner in which the product can be used, method of payment, ability to check balances are elements which are important to have a full outline of for the purposes of evaluation,” reports The Mirror.
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