RTÉ Opening Statement – Joint Oireachtas Committee Meeting

Joint Oireachtas Committee for Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport
20 May 2026

Cathaoirleach, Deputies, Senators – thank you for your invitation to attend this afternoon. I welcome the discussion that lies ahead, and see this as a valuable opportunity to generate clarity on a range of important issues.

I would like to once again underscore RTÉ’s commitment to reform and the restoration of trust.

As improved processes and more explicit parameters are applied to the preparation of the Top 10 Highest Earning Presenter list as an element of the Financial Statements for 2025, the issue of the categorisation of Derek Mooney with regard to the compilation of the Highest Earner list arose. It was promptly explored further, notified to the Audit and Risk Committee, to myself as the Director-General, and to the Chair. Findings were verified and ultimately raised with the Leadership Team and the Board for formal consideration. A decision was made to include any relevant individual with a dual role in the list. The organisation moved with due pace to address the matter, and confirmed that outcome with our Minister, the public and relevant stakeholders. In confirming his pay (with his permission) for the years 2020 to 2023, it is now absolutely clear where Derek would have sat in the top ten in those years.

The correct protocols and procedures were followed. The 2025 list, and the details which underpin how it was compiled, are testimony to new standards in action. We are serious about making improvements and addressing issues as they arise. When looking at this issue, rigour and thoroughness was front and centre of our deliberations. As this outcome confirms, that may create challenges, especially in terms of surfacing legacy issues and practices. It is regrettable that a sincere attempt to be more open has come to be categorised as a scandal.

We acknowledge that the complexity of RTÉ’s historical approach to contracts and employment can often appear opaque and confusing. We find ourselves addressing decades of variable approaches and practices. Notwithstanding the complexity, I and RTÉ remain fiercely committed to the transparent reform of legacy matters in the interests of both RTÉ and its staff, and in the interest of best practice reporting too. Beyond that, I and the Leadership Team will continue to interrogate what we feel needs interrogation. We will correct what deserves correction.

We have learned the hard way as regards public trust. The gains that we have made in terms of the recovery of that trust are not something that we take for granted.

We are aware that the Committee members have more questions on the matter and we are happy to answer those questions.

We are also aware that this is not the only topic of interest to you. The matter of the administration costs of the Superannuation Scheme has now been decided on, but we are open to any other questions you may have as regards our overall pensions position.

On the matter of public funding, I welcome the Committee’s continued interest. How public service media is funded and sustained is not just an Irish question. It is being grappled with by peer organisations across Europe and the globe. Media organisations of all kinds and sizes are facing sustainability challenges. With the rise of misinformation, and threats to democracy, public service media as a public good has never been more important.

Public media is an essential service: access to news, to national culture, sport and content in the Irish language, and the broader provision of programming of public service value, form the bedrock of the promises made by RTÉ in relation to the funding agreement made in 2024.

I need to be clear on this: the multi-annual commitment to €725m of secure funding across three years is not, as has been termed, a ‘bailout’. Comprising of both licence fee, and exchequer funding, this funding is a critical financial support to a national public service. To describe this as a ‘bailout’ is at best misleading. At worst it suggests that the organisation is only worthy of support as a mitigation against financial crisis.

For accuracy, of the €225m of funds received in 2025, the additional government funding represented 18% of that. We remain very grateful to all of the households who support public service media through their licence fee.

That funding (along with commercial revenue generated by RTÉ) is what has enabled us to create memorable viewing and listening experiences in 2025, which include comprehensive news and current affairs coverage, including award-winning investigative reporting; the generation of the majority of the most-watched television programmes in Ireland, including The Traitors Ireland and The Late Late Toy Show; a diverse portfolio of radio services in English and in Irish, which reach over two million listeners a week including a refreshed line up for RTÉ Radio 1; a rich selection of Irish and international content for on-demand viewing via RTÉ Player; an impressive array of free-to-air sporting moments featuring local and national teams; award-winning Irish documentaries; and free bi-lingual children’s content, as well as over 10,000 hours of Irish-language content across all services and 125 hours of Irish drama.

Looking to the months ahead, audiences have lots to look forward to, including a brilliant summer of sport, great Irish documentaries and the celebration of the centenary of our public service media. If all of us here today agree that public service media is of national importance, then like every other element of national infrastructure – be it water, transport or energy – then public service media will require funding to sustain it. As highlighted in the reports of CnaM, public service media in Ireland has been underfunded for decades. The commitment to the first multi-annual agreement was a very welcome step in addressing that funding volatility.

That is not to say that RTÉ is not in large part responsible for its own fiscal stability. That was one of the key objectives of the New Direction strategy – a pathway to retain the best and most wide-ranging audience experience, whilst reducing fixed costs that create financial vulnerability.

Commitment to programmes of public service character (in all their hues) is central to the decisions that we make. There is no diminution of commitment to public service. Far from it, engagement with RTÉ’s trusted news services, sporting experiences, our factual coverage in current affairs and in documentaries, attendance at our orchestral performances, and our slate of Irish drama and other independent production programming, remains incredibly high. A transition to the independent sector, for some of that programming, should not be characterised as lack of conviction about its inclusion in our output, or that it is of lesser quality or value as a result of that change.

As Ireland prepares to lead the European Presidency, it should take some pride in the degree to which it committed to supporting public service media in the multi-annual funding commitment of 2024. The European Media Freedom Act is intended to protect the independence, stability, and plurality of media systems across the EU. The act recognises that integral to achieving that, is that the funding that underpins public service media must be adequate, sustainable and predictable, and not vulnerable to political interference. We trust that the processes outlined in the amended act will operate in a way that aligns with that ambition when the next multi-annual agreement is considered next year.

In the meantime, both the Leadership Team, and all of my colleagues at RTÉ, will remain focussed on the delivery of RTÉ’s public service remit and the continued reform and evolution of the organisation so that it is well placed to succeed over the decades ahead.