Raidió Teilifís Éireann

117. Deputy Sinéad Gibney asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport for an update on the funding of RTÉ and the reinstatement of the €20 million in promised multiannual funding. [74373/26]

119. Deputy Joanna Byrne asked the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport to detail the reasons, missed key performance indicators or criteria that led to his decision to cut RTÉ’s previously agreed public funding for 2027 by €20 million. [73874/26]

Many people in RTÉ and across the wider production sector were shocked when the budget allocation was announced. It was €20 million short of the multiannual funding agreed, putting a new studio, various productions and jobs in jeopardy. I understand that the Minister has met with RTÉ since then. Can the Minister of State tell the House whether funding will be restored to RTÉ, under what conditions if any and whether restored funding is conditional on involuntary redundancies?

I propose to take Questions Nos. 117 and 119 together. The overall budget allocation to the Department for 2027 was set out in the public expenditure report published on budget day. The Minister and I set out further details at our press conference on Wednesday, 7 October. As was outlined by the Minister at that time, the allocations to each public body or initiative under the Department's remit were based on the total available funding in the context of the competing demands across the Department. For the broadcasting and media programme area, a key priority was to consolidate the gains made in recent years. More than €356 million is being allocated to this area next year. Of this amount, €240 million was secured for RTÉ. This included an additional €11 million in Exchequer funding to make up for a projected fall of this amount in licence fee receipts in 2027. To be clear, the Minister sought €260 million for RTÉ, which would have required a €30 million increase in Exchequer funding, to cover both the projected fall in licence fee revenue and an increase of €20 million over the 2026 level. Given the total allocation that was provided to the Department, this was not possible and the Minister had to make difficult decisions in balancing the competing needs for additional funding across the Department. While being guided primarily by the overall current funding available, there was regard to the pace of reform at RTÉ as one factor in this assessment. It has to be acknowledged that RTÉ has delivered and continues to deliver on its reform commitments. At the same time, it must also be acknowledged that the pace of the reform is not what RTÉ originally set out. Notwithstanding this and, as the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, announced after meeting with the chair and director general of RTÉ on Thursday, 8 October, assurances were provided on delivery of reform and there will be continued engagement with RTÉ over the coming weeks.

I also pass on my best wishes to the Minister; I hope he makes a speedy recovery. Unfortunately, that response did not give clarity. Níl aon soiléireacht anseo ar chor ar bith. The Minister said the reason was performance related. In advance of the budget when the Minister asked the Department of public expenditure for the €20 million, no performance issues are raised and were only raised at a press conference the day after the budget. We still do not know where the extra €20 million which was granted went. While the Minister has met with RTÉ and the meeting was described as constructive, we still do not know if the €20 million will be restored. If so, when will it be restored? Cathain a dhéanfar é a athchóiriú? Crucially if the issue is that RTÉ has not reduced headcount fast enough through voluntary redundancies, will the Government demand headcount be reduced by involuntary redundancies as a condition for restoring funding or will it simply avoid this issue and demand a cut in headcount knowing that would mean staff being made redundant involuntarily?

As has already been said, no organisation can operate effectively without clarity on its budget. This announcement of a €20 million cut to RTÉ came as a complete shock to it and to everybody else. I am not any clearer than my colleague after the Minister of State's statement as to the reasons. Ambiguous statements and quotes about difficult decisions just do not cut it. Is there genuine discontent with RTÉ in the Government? He talked about reforms, acknowledgement of reforms but reforms not at the pace that was committed to. We absolutely need clarity on this and whether this funding is secure for RTÉ or not. The European Broadcasting Union is deeply concerned by this decision to cut the funding. The RTÉ unions, its workers and everyone connected to our national broadcaster have expressed their concerns. They need that clarity.

I thank Deputies Hearne and Byrne. As I laid out in my response, there is no doubt that RTÉ is progressing with reforms even though the pace of reform has not been as initially set out. We would like to see those progressed at pace. As I also laid out in my response, €260 million was sought as part of the budgetary process but that was not possible given the overall context of the budget challenges we had. The pace of reform was also a consideration. There has been really good engagement between the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, and RTÉ. He met the director general and chair of RTÉ for a very constructive meeting. As the Taoiseach said, the Government wants to see the agreement with RTÉ honoured and followed through by both the Government and RTÉ. That obviously requires RTÉ to step forward in relation to pace of the reforms and the delivery of those reforms. The Government will engage very constructively with RTÉ in relation to working on the agreement and following through on the agreement we signed up to. There will continue to be constructive engagement about that. Any progress on this is contingent on seeing those reforms implemented. We all agree on the absolute importance of a strong public service broadcaster in this country. RTÉ has been intrinsic to the development of our State and ensuring that the public has fair and impartial information, and programming that reflects our culture, our politics and our society. That will be as important in the years ahead as it has been in the development of the State up to now given the wider environment in which we operate. It is important that we work together with RTÉ, that we have a good strong funding model in place and that we have constructive engagement, which is what we have and which we will continue to build on.

I am still no clearer on whether RTÉ has this €20 million or not? Was this a solo run by the Minister or is this the Government's position? As it is clear that RTÉ has not received the €20 million, where is it? It did not go to Fís Éireann and it did not go to TG4, which also actually effectively received a cut in its funding. Cá ndeachaigh an t-airgead? It did not go to the Arts Council, so where has it gone? Were these issues in relation to performance raised before the budget? If that is why RTÉ was not given the guaranteed funding, why did the Minister write to the Minister for public expenditure a week before the budget to ask for the €20 million that he subsequently withheld? It has been two weeks and the Government has still not been straight on this. The Minister of State is absolutely right that RTÉ is fundamental to the future of broadcasting. For the sake of civil society and social cohesion it is crucial that we have a public broadcaster that can do its work and counter disinformation. Unfortunately, this does not help that and the Government needs to be very clear as to what has happened to that €20 million and that RTÉ gets it.

I have laid out very clearly that there were two aspects to the budgetary position: first, the challenges in relation to the overall budgetary envelope; and, second, the pace of delivery of reform by RTÉ. The Government would like to see the three-year agreement made with RTÉ honoured by both sides. Obviously, that is contingent on the delivery of those reforms and the pace of those reforms. The Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, has had and will continue to have very constructive engagement with RTÉ on that. We want to see a public service broadcaster that serves the needs of our country. That funding certainty needs to be in place. There is the discussion in relation to the television licence fee revenue. I think all of us in this House would encourage the public to pay the television licence fee and continue to subscribe. More people in the country are now buying a Netflix subscription than purchasing a television licence. I think we are all in agreement about the very strong role that RTÉ programming plays in our national life. It is important for that to be well funded, with the independent television licence revenue going towards that as well. It is important that the public support it in that way given that they are clearly showing a willingness to engage by actually purchasing programming. No programming is more important than our national programming and the wonderful service that RTÉ provides. It is important that it provides that along with public service funding provision that we have across other media providers across the State. The Government values the role that RTÉ plays. We will continue to engage constructively with it. We want to see the agreements that we have with RTÉ honoured by it as well as us engaging with it in relation to supporting it financially.