The RT╔ Authority has endorsed cutbacks of £23.4 million and more than 150 jobs in an effort to prevent losses rising to over £20 million this year.

Unions at the state broadcasting company had hoped the authority would modify management proposals, but these were agreed after what is understood to have been a long and difficult meeting.

Some 200 hours of programming are being cut from RT╔'s schedules next year and the Lyric FM news service is being axed, along with The Week in Politics. The regional news round-up, Nationwide, is being reduced in frequency to two or three times a week. Online services will be severely reduced as well.

Events such as the Telethon and the Irish Film and Television Awards are being scrapped and sports coverage may be curtailed by the decision to close the Outside Broadcasting facility. According to RT╔, much of its sports coverage is already contracted out and similar arrangements can be made for special events such as the Rose of Tralee. Outside broadcasting by satellite vans will continue for the news service.

Scrapping of other outside broadcasting units accounts for £5 million of the projected cost savings and 70 of the 150 job cuts. It is also the issue most likely to lead to conflict with the unions. Most of those affected are members of SIPTU and the craft unions.

Staff said yesterday that the operation was competitive and it made no sense to sell off the equipment and then buy back the service.

SIPTU branch secretary Mr Jimmy Jordan, whose members face the prospect of losing some 100 jobs at RT╔, has warned that members would resist cutbacks which simply transfer jobs outside the station. After a meeting with management, he said: "This is not an agreed plan. It's an imposed solution, and any attempt to impose it will be resisted, by industrial action if necessary."

National Union of Journalists assistant general secretary Mr Eoin Ronayne described the measures as "a panic reaction". He said many employees would be deeply disappointed that the RT╔ Authority had given the proposals its "imprimatur".

Unions and management are meeting on Monday through RT╔'s corporate partnership group to begin negotiations. Mr Ronayne said the unions would be demanding to see the financial rationale behind the proposals.

Following yesterday's meeting, the authority's chairman, Mr Paddy Wright, said RT╔ faced "a complex and very difficult financial situation". He added: "The financial targets agreed today are not a quick-fix solution - they are part of a strategic process that will result in a more efficient organisation fully discharging its public service remit".

Welcoming the authority's decision, RT╔'s director-general, Mr Bob Collins, said it had been a "particularly difficult time" for RT╔. The financial targets adopted by the authority were primarily designed to impact on expenditure with immediate effect. He warned of further proposals to the authority in the near future to address the overall structure of RT╔ and its future cost-effectiveness: "As is appropriate, we will be keeping the Government fully informed and seeking positive reinforcement of its commitment to public service broadcasting."