RTÉ's in-house TV documentary unit is to cease production in 2026.
At a meeting this afternoon led by RTÉ's Director of Video, Steve Carson, staff at the in-house TV documentary unit were told the department would cease in the coming months.
Staff will be re-assigned across RTÉ.
Recent documentaries made by the in-house team include Trackers: The People v The Banks, part two of which will broadcast on RTÉ One next week, programmes about Gerry Hutch, AKA The Monk, a film about foundlings called The Phone Box Babies and a profile of Irish businessman Michael Smurfit.
In a statement, RTÉ confirmed the meeting took place, saying that it has "spoken to the in-house documentary team about some changes".
The broadcaster said that the changes to production were required due to "voluntary exits" from RTÉ and the "ongoing need to meet changing audience habits including growing demand for podcasts."
The decision will not impact RTE investigates or the Doc on One radio documentaries.
The statement also clarified that there will be no loss of jobs, saying that "no job outside of those availing of the Voluntary Exit Programme will be affected."
The broadcaster also confirmed that it will be "reassigning some people to different production roles".
Documentary output will not be impacted
RTÉ says that "documentary output will not be impacted".
The broadcaster confirmed its commitment to Irish documentary making, stating that audiences "will see as many documentaries next year as this year," and that it will be commissioning "some additional documentary content from the independent sector."
This year, RTÉ television will "broadcast 72 hours of documentary programmes", with "around 9 hours made by in house teams," the statement noted.
The broadcaster said that in 2026, RTÉ is planning to work with the independent sector "to offer around 75 hours of commissioned documentaries."
RTÉ says that a review of the production of programmes and content is "ongoing", as it continues to "transform RTÉ" and "meet the needs of our audiences".
An RTÉ Trade Union Group (TUG) spokesperson has criticised the decision saying: "RTÉ has dramatically increased commercialisation, with whole swathes of the organisation now being primed for outsourcing and RTÉ 's flagship TV documentary unit is just the latest to be earmarked for complete closure."
The spokesperson said this decision was taken "at the expense of stable jobs in the sector, to be replaced by more precarious short-term employment".
"RTÉ is using the fallout from a scandal of management’s own making to hollow out the organisation, selling it off bit by bit," the spokesperson added.
