Call for review to see if RTÉ provides value

OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE:A UNIT should be established to examine if RTÉ is delivering value for money to the State and its licence holders, a nominee to the RTÉ board told a joint Oireachtas committee yesterday.

Aileen O’Meara, a former RTÉ correspondent, said the broadcaster faced financial challenges, and that a root-and-branch investigation, particularly into the numbers and salaries in management, should be conducted.

Responding to a question on RTÉ pay from Senator Jim Walsh at the committee on communications, Ms O’Meara said many workers in RTÉ were well paid but were also very good at their jobs. There may be a need to examine pay levels, she said, but stressed that workers earning under €100,000 per year should be protected. The committee was vetting nominees it has recommended to Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan for appointment to the boards of RTÉ and the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland (BAI).

Ms O’Meara, barrister Eunice O’Raw, film producer Stuart Switzer and journalist Orlaith Carmody were approved as nominees to the RTÉ board.

Michael Moriarty of the Irish Vocational Education Association, Larry Bass of production company Screentime ShinAwiL, DCU lecturer Prof Colum Kenny, and Siobhán Ni Ghadhra, of the Telegael media company, were approved as nominees to the BAI.

South Tipperary Fianna Fáil TD Mattie McGrath asked the nominees to the BAI how they felt about the demise of Independent Network News and the fact it had been replaced by a service owned by Denis O’Brien, who now controlled a large proportion of the State’s news coverage.

Prof Kenny said the consolidation of resources was a cause for concern, and the way news services were provided needed to be examined. “If we want standards, we need investment,” he said.

North Tipperary Fine Gael TD Noel Coonan said he believed standards in journalism were slipping, and it appeared journalists were doing their “damndest” to bring down politicians.

On finance, Mr Switzer said that, at an average of €80,000 per year, the pay structure in RTE seemed out of kilter. He said it would be difficult to correct a drop of revenue of 20 per cent without dipping into the broadcaster’s pay roll which accounted for 70 per cent of its outgoings.