Ó Cuív calls for cap on public broadcasters' pay

A CALL has been made for public service broadcasters’ salaries to be capped at the level of Ministers at €169,275.

The Fianna Fáil spokesman for communications, Eamon Ó Cuív, made the call when he asked the Minister for Communications, Pat Rabbitte, to clarify “whether any of the licence fee is used to pay inflated salaries and fees to broadcasters in RTÉ”.

He claimed that licence holders “would be upset if they believed this was the definition of public service broadcasting, paying people €600,000 and €700,000 per year in a time of economic downturn”.

Mr Rabbitte said some licence money “must, inevitably, go towards the remuneration of contract staff because they are all paid from the same purse”.

He added, however, that “given the times we are in, and that RTÉ is projecting a deficit at the end of the year in excess of €30 million, it would be appropriate to consider all levels of salary and remuneration packages in the corporation because it must survive in a more difficult climate”.

He also said “public service broadcasting is about more than funding. It is about content and structures as well.”

Asked about public service broadcasting “value for money”, Mr Rabbitte said “to some extent that is in the eye of the beholder”.

Mr Ó Cuív asked if the Minister would “consider making it a condition of the licence that no one would be paid more than a Minister’s salary, which, we would all agree, is rather generous”.

Mr Rabbitte told the former minister “it is not as generous as when you were over here”.