Varadkar says RTÉ “must prove” it deserves bailout

An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar says that RTÉ “must prove” it deserves a bailout after RTÉ announced they anticipate a loss of €21 million in TV licence fee revenue.

RTÉ has also requested €34.5m in interim funding from the Government, but Varadkar stated that a “clear plan for reform and cost reductions” must be carried out before a bailout to the tune of €55 million is launched.

“I think everyone understands that there will be additional funding required but it has to be conditional and we’re not going to be in a position as a Government to allocate any additional funding to RTÉ until we’ve seen the director general’s new strategy,” Varadkar told reporters after a Cabinet meeting.

“We believe that the public won’t accept additional taxpayers’ money being provided to RTÉ without a reform programme and one that’s being implemented.”

The state broadcaster has seen a sharp drop-off in people renewing their licence fee in the wake of the Ryan Tubridy scandal, which resulted in the star presenter being ousted and RTÉ Director General Dee Forbes stepping down from her role.

Figures from July and August showed a steep decline in people paying the licence fee, but Varadkar has renewed his call to ensure that people to still pay the licence fee.

“Enforcement will continue, there are 32 people whose full-time job is to enforce the TV licence and the fact that a TV licence goes unpaid doesn’t mean that it’s written off,” Varadkar said.

In recent weeks, People Before Profit have proposed scrapping the licence fee altogether, and making RTÉ entirely ad-free, paid for by a tax on major tech companies.