Editorial: Coalition must stop the in-fighting and fix RTÉ funding

Details of three reports on RTÉ’s culture, govern­ance, staffing and the infamous barter account confirm a sorry catalogue of sloppiness and indiffer­ence by management and its supervisory board. Taken together, these reports confirm the drip-feed of scandals first sprung on an unsuspecting public a year ago through the emergence of previously undisclosed payments to Ryan Tubridy.

As a year of alarming revelations followed, the people’s anger turned to sullen suspicion tending towards bored indifference.

Politicians tell us the issue is not coming up among voters as they canvass for local and European elections on June 7. But equally, the politicians also know it would be easy to rekindle public anger about the national broadcaster, which was raging 12 months ago. There is a growing acceptance that RTÉ has no choice but to accept the reform recommendations contained in the various reports.

The necessary communication between RTÉ executives and the Government on the details, as well as consultation with unions, will take time, and time is in short supply. There is every chance that proposed reforms could lead to further job losses that could prove to be another issue.

The Government’s priority in an election year is to avoid future funding turning into a political war. The faultlines of cabinet divisions are clear, with the responsible minister, Catherine Martin of the Green Party, at best lukewarm about a so-called hybrid funding model – a mix of a lower licence-style charge, possibly collected by the Revenue Commissioners, with an top-up from the Exchequer.

The Government knows RTÉ is not in imminent danger of collapse, thanks to a €40m taxpayer bailout authorised in last October’s budget

Tánaiste Micheál Martin is opposed to Ms Martin’s preferred option of total exchequer funding, with safeguards to prevent politicians meddling with the broadcaster’s independence. Many in Fine Gael share the Fianna Fáil leader’s view.

It would take time to work through this and other outstanding issues about what exactly any taxpayers’ money would be used for at RTÉ. The same applies to the known reluctance of senior Revenue officials to get involved.

Despite dwindling revenue from payment of the €160 licence fee, the Government also knows RTÉ is not in imminent danger of collapse, thanks to a €40m taxpayer bailout authorised in last October’s budget. All of these factors make a sticking plaster remedy all the more tempting for the Cabinet as election issues pile up.

As the weeks pass, the prospect of parking the question of RTÉ funding will become increasingly attractive for ministers — unless they can get over their immediate divisions.