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RTÉ pay crisis: Station says it remains committed to operation in Cork

€195,000 should be highest possible salary as trust has to be restored, Ronan Mullen says

Independent Senator Ronan Mullen said public trust had to be restored in RTÉ. File photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Independent Senator Ronan Mullen said public trust had to be restored in RTÉ. File photograph: Liam McBurney/PA Wire
Vivienne Clarke
Mon Jul 03 2023 - 12:14

RTÉ remains committee to its operations in Cork but has said the suitability of the current building it uses there for the full range of the station’s activities in the city is being assessed.

The national broadcaster issued a statement on the matter following speculation based on reports that the station is to sell the building it uses in the city and move to a rented studio. The Today Show on TV, the John Creedon Radio Show, Nationwide, and the Creedon TV show are all run from Cork.

Meanwhile Independent Senator Ronan Mullen has said the Broadcasting (Restriction of Salaries) Bill, which was introduced in the Seanad last week, would allow for the capping salaries of salaries at the station at €195,000.

“I think it’s the first ever legislation of its kind,” he told RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland. He was not interested in what he described as “woke witch hunts” but said public trust had to be restored in RTÉ.

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“My legislation would amend that legislation to provide that no matter how the salary is constructed, whether by way of direct employment or any set of contracts with external people, that the remuneration cannot exceed the salary, the annual salary allowance of the Minister for Communications. That’s a figure of €195,000.

“Some will say that’s too high, some will say that’s too low. But I think the principle is important because these days we need to keep our perspective here. There are actually bigger problems facing the country right now. We mustn’t be distracted by them,” Mr Mullen said.

“Nonetheless, our public service broadcaster is important. Trust has to be restored. We need to move through the process of asking hard questions. We need to move to a point where reform happens, where there’s a new culture. [I’m] certainly not interested in any kind of woke witch hunts of individual people. What we need to find out is what went wrong, how can trust and accountability and transparency be restored?”

The situation had developed in RTÉ where the salaries of some people had gotten out of control, there was a culture of excess that had been very damaging to public confidence in the broadcaster, he said. “We’ve maybe focused too much on corporate values and not enough on community values.”

What was needed was a restoration of balance of the pay scales within RTÉ that would require legislation to restrict salaries.

“It also provides that there are penalties for knowingly causing inaccurate information about salaries. But in the end, this is about recognising the contribution of everybody.

“The Bill recognises that one of the benefits of being a celebrity or of being a very well-known name in the likes of RTÉ is that you have the opportunity to monetise your value in other ways through external appearances and so on,” he said.

“And my Bill makes clear that that should be allowed with the due consent from the director general and so on, and provided it’s not a conflict, but also that it’s not just getting paid by another way for RTÉ work.

“So I don’t actually think that having a cap on salaries would cause other salaries, if you like, down the chain to be affected negatively. In fact, I think it sets a standard that we are all in this together. We don’t need Lionel Messi characters in our public service broadcaster. It’s a team. It’s work done on behalf of the community,” Mr Mullen said.