RTÉ admits paying Tubridy €345,000 more than declared

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121362034#Comment_121362034

Interesting "fact" in that article: the Virgin Radio gig is holiday cover and part-time. Not quite the big job it was made out to be and no announcement yet. At least Tubridy is still famous in Clifden.

Regards...jmcc

jmcc

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121362765#Comment_121362765

That's the Dublin media village. Idiots welcome. :) Seriously though, journalists can earn a few quid from appearances on radio and TV shows and RTE is the biggest broadcaster.

Regards...jmcc

Brendan Bendar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363242#Comment_121363242

And that’s why they back up the RTE crowd as they know enough not to kill the cash cow.

Until now anyway!!!

RoTelly

You have to love the clickbate tabloid media

Beloved RTÉ Soap faces Axe

I wonder which soap would it be Fairly **** or the other non-existent soap operas?

MrMusician18

RTE proposing to reduce headcount by 400 and explore a partial sale of their campus along with significant reductions in those that earn over €100k. Closure of digital services likely.

Anything that doesn't address the 2fm albatross is not worth the paper it's written on.

Damien360

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363838#Comment_121363838

The fact that anyone may earn over €100k is not the issue. It's earning that when the competition couldn't possibly pay that. There is no point them quoting US or UK salaries, it's local competition that matters. RTE doesn't have the clout to compete with the UK or US for staff and they need to accept that. Competing with TV3 and any other national broadcaster that matters.

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121363874#Comment_121363874

I think you're just talking about what RTE calls "talent" there.

There will be a lot of staff on 100k+ who are not "talent". People who work in roles that are not specific to broadcasting.

RoTelly

Tomorrow is the big day folks RTÉ is going to announce

Job cuts

Closure of Digital Radio services

Moves to Cork

It is strategy 2024, but they have a trick up their sleave, they are going to get the Screen Producers of Ireland on board by offering 50% increase in indo productions (Going from 40 m to 60 m... just don't tell anyone one they cut it back by 50% from 80m in the late 2000s).

It isn't strategy 2024 its .... NEW DIRECTION 2028

Oh and you can say good bye to RTÉ ONE +1 !

pureza

It would be cheaper for rte to close down all its transmitters ,sell the equipment and go fully online only

Atlantic Dawn

400 staff to go, makes you wonder what they are doing in the organisation that it can continue without them as it's near 25% of staff. The cost of this scheme is estimated to be in the region of €40 million so a €100k a head pay off, nice if you can get it...

https://www.rte.ie/news/ireland/2023/1113/1416297-taoiseach-rte/

bigroad

They probably have 400 contractors to let go so there should no redundancy payouts.

This will be the first 400 to go and next year another 400 ,just to stay afloat.

TheBlock

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364012#Comment_121364012

That's the problem with averages, it won't be that for The Grunts effected, It'll be capped at max of two years salary if you've done 20 years service. So a PA BCO or Researcher may get a max of 70k before tax after 20 years service. Unless of course you make them mandatory and let people go with just stat redundancy. People who had no idea how the company was being run (Ruined) and were just doing their day jobs are the ones going to pay the prices. As for how the number will be reached it's explained by the fact that the majority of inhouse programmes will now be commissioned.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364009#Comment_121364009

At this point and they way things are going, while I disagree, I agree.

hotmail.com

400 over 5 years. Ridiculous.

RoTelly

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364173#Comment_121364173

It is just Strategy 2024 rebranded, 5 months into the job and he's cogging of Dee Frobes.

evolvingtipperary101

Could you have any confidence that they will perform any of these?

RTÉ plans to reduce staff numbers by up to 400 by 2028 through voluntary redundancy under a plan sent to the Government.

The cost of this scheme is estimated to be in the region of €40 million.

There is an aim to achieve 40 redundancies quickly and this will be funded by the proceeds of land already sold on the RTÉ campus.

The strategic plan says RTÉ will continue to reduce the pay of its top presenters and will keep in place a 2023 pay cap.

The plan is also seeking to further cut operating costs by around €10 million next year.

Upgraded technology, live and online content will be prioritised, in this plan.

Some services are set to be reduced and there will be more production in Cork and in other regions in the years ahead.

There will be a direct and immediate impact on services the plan says and the RTÉ 1 +1 and the RTÉ 2 +1 TV channels would cease.

More content will be produced by the independent sector and services such as RTÉ Radio 1 Extra, RTÉ Pulse and RTÉ 2XM could be scrapped.

Viscount Aggro

It should 400 per year, over 5 years.

fritzelly

With such a large work force how many would be leaving thru retirement to start with, seems a piss poor effort and we all know when it comes to RTE, promises and action are two very different things

TinyMuffin

saw Tony o Donoghoe on the news there. Very noticeable shake in the hands. Hope he’s alright.

hotmail.com

It's not a plan at all.

Rubberchikken

This is just another attempt to look like something is being done and hoping that they'll get their bailout and the public will continue funding their gravy train

I've said it before but O think Bakhurst is a bad choice. And fear of the union is going to make management do as little as possible to sort out the mess.

awec

These sort of posts are a great example of why this thread is now just a whinge-about-everything-to-do-with-RTE thread. All objectivity is gone. If RTE had announced 1000 job cuts to be made tomorrow some posters still wouldn't be happy.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364012#Comment_121364012

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364173#Comment_121364173

The reason the 400 jobs are spread over 5 years is so the organisational changes and cuts that need to happen to ensure RTE can function with 400 less staff can be made. They still have to provide a public service.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364380#Comment_121364380

RTE has about 1700 staff. You can do this calculation on this one.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364388#Comment_121364388

People leaving through retirement without being backfilled would be great. RTE getting 400 heads that way would be the absolute dream but it's not going to happen. That would be far better for RTE than having to pay redundancy, but we'll not let that get in the way of a good moan.

RTE's natural attrition will pretty much drop to zero now. Anyone who was considering leaving will just wait it out unless they have an urgent need to leave, and hope they are one of the 400 instead.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364407#Comment_121364407

I think anyone willing to look at this with any sort of objectivity will recognise that a 20% reduction in staff levels is a very significant change.

MrMusician18

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364483#Comment_121364483

RTE still have to provide a public service, but what is public service? Pop music? A soap that's as bloated as it's terrible?

The reason I'm annoyed that the timeframe is over 4 years is that it requires significant follow through for a long time, something that RTE management has demonstrated that it is not capable of. The other reason is that other organisations can and have taken the scalpel to operations and have not collapsed so I see this lack of agility as a strategy to frustrate change - notably the State pays up first and the change comes later. Much later.

Lastly, while RTE provides a public service, it is not an essential public service. If RTE doesn't operate properly in its transition, it doesn't really matter - it's not drinking water they are providing.

hotmail.com

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364483#Comment_121364483

The penny hasn't dropped that the station is broke and has been broke for years.

If this was a private company it would be long gone.

If it means it becomes a smaller organisation with the main focus on news and current affairs, then so be it.

jmcc

The lyrics from the old Late Late Show theme song, a clip from a Nat King Cole song, had the words "It started on the Late Late Show". Ironically, Tubridy has become the face of the payments scandal. The staff in RTE, those who survive the cull, may never want to work with Tubridy again. Things might also turn toxic for the current RTE "talent" as there will probably be a split developing between ordinary RTE staff and the "talent".

The staff will end up taking the hit for the problems created by decades of RTE management facilitated by the licence fee and bailouts. Perhaps there is a growing realisation in the Sindo/Indo of the human cost of running that story. Trying to paint Tubridy as the victim failed. He wasn't. The narrative that Tubridy and his agent got greedy has now taken hold with the release of details about the payments and the letter of comfort from Forbes. The damaged inflicted on RTE is much greater than the over-payment of the "talent". One question that the PAC and the government may ask is this: in monetary terms, how much of the bailout will be spent on those who caused the problems?

Regards...jmcc

awec

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364594#Comment_121364594

But it’s not a private company. Trying to compare it to a private company is pointless rubbish. RTE is a public service broadcaster.

If being run like a private company is your barometer then you’re going to be eternally disappointed. Though maybe that’s your desire here, set impossible standards so as to always have something to complain about.

mariaalice

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364576#Comment_121364576

That last bit is not true, while I am a bit skeptical of the idea that fact-based evidence is a bulwark against nutty conspiracy theories or the lies of the far-right, public service broadcasting is important. I want factual evidence-based reporting.

The reason I am skeptical is that for a not insignificant amount, what they feel about an issue trumpets any evidence.

Idbatterim

The narrative that current staff will suffer... lol ! That place has been a gravy train for decades and it still is... Its not human nature to see it as if they hit the lotto, but they did... time is simply up now for some of them, but they have had a feast, not a famine...

hotmail.com

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/121364646#Comment_121364646

It's hundreds of millions in debt.

For years and years. And yet it manages to pay over inflated salaries to average presenters. Do you not accept it has to balance the books?

arctictree

So 400 voluntary redundancies? In my experience of that, its the best talent who get the pay off and leave. The wasters stay on as they know they wont get a job anywhere else!