Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said the Government will not be "making demands" that RTÉ sells its site at Donnybrook in Dublin.
His comments come after Tánaiste Micheál Martin cautioned against calls for the broadcaster to dispose of the site, saying "often selling land is something you regret later".
Yesterday, RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst told the Oireachtas Committee on Media that "all options are on the table - full sale, partial sale and doing nothing" - when asked about the potential sale of the land.
He said he did not believe that "doing nothing" was an option, and added that he has asked for a valuation of the entire site, which he hopes to have in a couple of weeks.
Speaking in Foynes, Co Limerick this afternoon, the Taoiseach said the Government would not be insisting on the sale of RTÉ land.
"We will not be making demands of that nature, but what we want to hear from the DG and the board on what their plans are and what they are planning to do to improve the financial situation of the company, but also their vision for a successful RTÉ in the future, which is just as important, because it is our public service broadcaster and we want it to be successful."
Mr Varadkar said that any further sale of lands in Donnybrook needs to be worked out - whether it makes sense to sell part of it or all of it - but if RTÉ relocates there will be costs associated with that, so "it's important that any decision makes sense and adds up and is not done just for demonstration purposes".
The Taoiseach also said that Mr Bakhurst had made some very tough decisions in recent days around a recruitment freeze and cutting back on some allowances, and "obviously" Government will be engaging with RTÉ about additional funding for this year and future years.
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Earlier, speaking to reporters at a Brexit briefing, the Tánaiste said that while he does not want to "give in to being the person who has to come up with a detailed plan" for the broadcaster, he is not convinced selling the Montrose site is a sensible step.
Describing the suggestion as "silly", Mr Martin said: "You can say sell the land, but that doesn't create sustainability.
"These [land sales] are a once off, it creates once off capital revenue, it doesn't deal with long-term sustainability.
"I've been in Government a long time and, you know, quite often selling land is something you regret later."
The Tánaiste added "it may not be the case" that a land sale would be the wrong step in terms of RTÉ, but said any measures must be outlined in a "detailed plan" drawn up by management and given to Government.
"We need a proper detailed plan for consideration, not soundbites. I think you need a detailed plan from RTÉ to sustain confidence.
"And that might mean selling the land, it might mean re-locating, but you try re-locating in Dublin today.
"That will create its own costs, so you've got to stand back and do this properly, professionally," Mr Martin said.
Asked when a detailed plan on the future of RTÉ should be drawn up by management and given to the Government, and if this needs to take place before Budget 2024 to ensure funding, Mr Martin said the budget is still "a few weeks" away.
Martin uncomfortable over treatment of Tubridy
Mr Martin said he is "not entirely comfortable" with the way RTÉ management engaged with former presenter Ryan Tubridy.
The Tánaiste said while he did not want to "get into personalities again on this", he had concerns over what took place.
"I'm not entirely comfortable with how all of this has been dealt with by RTÉ.
"I think the Grant Thornton report laid it out, I think there's a more fundamental issue, which is about the governance of RTÉ, the lack of authority from RTÉ in all of the issues that arose over the summer, and a lack of coherence.
"In my view the essential question is not about personalities, it's about how we develop a robust public media provision in the country," he said.
The Oireachtas Committee on Media heard yesterday that that RTÉ is facing a deficit of €28 million this year. €21m is linked to a steep decline in licence fee revenue.
The committee heard that better-than-expected commercial revenue intake would help make up some of the shortfall, but not all of it.
Outlining potential cost-saving measures to the committee, Mr Bakhurst said there would be a move to drive down the salaries of the top-earning presenters.
But he stressed that voluntary redundancy schemes were expensive and that RTÉ did not currently have the money to run one.
Mr Bakhurst was also asked about the broadcaster's contract with a photographer worth €240,000.
He said he is "not aware of every single hiring decision" in RTÉ, but was "surprised to see it".
In a statement this morning, RTÉ said it invited submissions from photographers to provide official stills photography for Fair City, as part of a public tender process.
The contract is guide price and for a maximum of €60,000 per annum, or €240,000 over four years.
RTÉ said this represented better value to it rather than engaging professional photographers on an ad hoc basis.
The photographer would have to produce 16 approved photos to Fair City each week, for 50 weeks per year and be on set or location for an average of 20 hours per week over the course of three days (including possibly weekend or night shift work).
Union says RTÉ recruitment freeze 'bolt from the blue'
Unions at RTÉ say they had no prior knowledge of the recruitment freeze, which was announced in an email to staff yesterday Mr Bakhurst.
RTÉ Trade Union Group Secretary Cearbhall Ó Síocháin described the announcement as a "bolt from the blue" and said a recruitment freeze will have a "detrimental impact" on workers and their ability to do their work.
The TUG said it was "given assurances" by Mr Bakhurst that he would engage with staff and trade unions in relation to efforts to rebuild trust with the public.
Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Mr Ó Síocháin said that for years, positions in RTÉ have not been filled and people are having to pick up the extra workload.
He called on management to engage with staff and work with them to "get RTÉ back to where it should be."
Mr Ó Síocháin said there are lots of demands being made of RTÉ and while he understands that the DG has to answer those, he said in certain "tones" of the political sphere, "there seems to be a tone of almost vengeance, calling for the gutting of RTÉ, for the sale of Montrose, for staff to be fired, for budgets to be slashed."
Responding to the comments, a spokesperson for RTÉ said that Mr Bakhurst told staff of the decision to implement a recruitment freeze before his appearance at the Oireachtas Committee, and that he and some members of the Interim Leadership Team would be meeting with Trade Union representatives early next week.
RTÉ staff received another email this evening in which Mr Bakhurst said that they are "taking these measures so that we can responsibly manage our cash balances at this stage".
He added: "This is a challenging time for us all, but I would like to reassure you that I am doing everything in my power to address the mistakes that were made; to put RTÉ on a stable financial footing; and to build an exciting and fair place to work for the future."
The chair of the National Union of Journalists' Dublin Broadcasting Branch has said that staff were concerned by yesterday's announcement, and clarification was needed on what the recruitment freeze means.
Emma O Kelly said some areas in the organisation, including the newsroom, were already short-staffed.
"That means we struggle to get to cover stories that we feel we need to cover; staff struggle to be allowed to take their annual leave because there is very often no one to step in and replace them when they are gone", she said.
Labour leader Ivana Bacik said there is no "tone of vengeance" in some parts of the political sphere regarding RTÉ and her party is deeply committed to public service broadcasting.
She said Labour wants sufficient resources for the broadcaster, but is very concerned over the "lack of regard for workers' rights" at RTÉ and that in some cases people have been working for decades for the national broadcaster without proper recognition.
"I think any increased funding must be conditional on ensuring decent pay and conditions for those who are carrying the load of work in RTÉ," she said.
The crisis at RTÉ erupted in June when the broadcaster revealed it had not correctly declared fees to Mr Tubridy between 2017 and 2022.
The furore subsequently widened as a series of other financial and governance issues emerged.
Prior to its difficulties over the summer months, RTÉ had asked the Government for €34.5m in additional interim funding for next year.
Additional reporting Fiachra Ó Cionnaith, PA
