RTÉ has a vital role to play in retaining Ireland’s independence in information and culture, its Director General has said.
Speaking at Dublin City University, Noel Curran said Ireland had lost many things in the current recession, but that it remained sovereign in information and culture, and that public broadcasting and public media played a vital role in keeping this so.
Mr Curran said that RTÉ had changed rapidly to cope with the severe recession in broadcast advertising and reductions in its public funds.
He said there were six key priorities in programming and services that RTÉ will protect and enhance over the next three years. These will be: investigative journalism, arts and culture, innovation (including science and technology), children and young people, 24-hour news on demand and national events including major sporting events
“Over the next three years audiences will notice new programming and new content in these areas across the full range of RTÉ’s services,” Mr Curran said.
He said that by the end of this year RTÉ would have 300 fewer staff than in 2008 and a fundamental restructuring of its operations was now under way.
The fees paid to the highest-earning presenters would reduce by in excess of 30%, Mr Curran said, even if this meant losing some of these presenters to commercial competitors.
Mr Curran said the dual-funding model RTÉ employed was “vital” if a small population was to receive a full, quality service at low public costs, and said there would be “clear changes” RTÉ’s commercial approach in the coming years.
“I am very aware of the privileged position that RTÉ is in, particularly in the current economic environment,” he said.
Mr Curran also expressed a direct apology to Fr Kevin Reynolds, the Co Galway parish priest who was recently the subject of a broadcast apology in respect of a Prime Time Investigates programme broadcast last May.
“RTÉ must always be open and honest when we do get it wrong,” he said. “We must learn what we can from such mistakes and make changes if necessary - and we will. That is part of being accountable and essential to public trust and public support. ”
