{"id":515619,"date":"2026-06-24T05:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T05:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/515619\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T05:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T05:57:09","slug":"rte-boss-told-board-no-programme-untouchable-in-new-cost-cutting-plan-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/515619\/","title":{"rendered":"RT\u00c9 boss told board no programme \u2018untouchable\u2019 in new cost-cutting plan \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

RT\u00c9<\/a> director general Kevin Bakhurst<\/a> told the broadcaster\u2019s board in March he was working on a \u201cmore definitive plan to address cost constraints\u201d and no show\u2019s funding is \u201cuntouchable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Minutes of the meeting in March show board members raised concerns with Bakhurst about the progress being made on a voluntary exit programme that has aimed to cut 400 jobs<\/a> and save \u20ac30 million annually.<\/p>\n

Two board members told Bakhurst<\/a> they lack confidence the process can achieve the cuts required.<\/p>\n

Media executive and board member David Harvey questioned if the leadership team was considering cuts to \u201cbigger spending decisions\u201d within its independent production unit, which funds productions such as Dancing With the Stars and Room to Improve, to address cost issues. <\/p>\n

Bakhurst said no show funded through the independent production unit was \u201cuntouchable\u201d and the board would be informed this month about new cost-cutting measures being taken into consideration.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman for the board said RT\u00c9 management has reverted to the board about cost constraints and talks are ongoing. She did not provide information about what options were being explored. <\/p>\n

RT\u00c9\u2019s redundancy scheme was approved by the Government in March 2025. Last year 97 people were made redundant through the programme.<\/p>\n

The minutes show board member Noreen O\u2019Kelly voiced \u201clow confidence in the plan\u201d to cut staff numbers. Fellow board member Jonathan Ruane, a lecturer at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, also expressed \u201csome doubts about the organisation\u2019s ability to reduce headcount\u201d.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Kelly, who served on the ESB board for 10 years, also asked why an analysis of lessons learned from the 2025 redundancy programme \u201cappeared to be absent\u201d.<\/p>\n

RT\u00c9\u2019s deputy director of content Niamh O\u2019Connor said management had been \u201cvery aggressive in the past year and had substantially stood down all internal TV production except Fair City and the Late Late Show\u201d.<\/p>\n

The minutes showed some board members also questioned why compulsory redundancies could not be considered.<\/p>\n

In response, Bakhurst said reduction in headcount could only be achieved voluntarily. He added the RT\u00c9 leadership team would return to the board with a \u201cmore definitive plan to address cost constraints\u201d in June.<\/p>\n

RT\u00c9 has aimed to cut 60 roles this year through the redundancy programme, which is only open to staff at the broadcaster with more than two years of service. Those employed for two to five years can receive four weeks of pay per year of service, while those with five to 10 years are entitled to five weeks per year. Staff at the broadcaster for more than a decade can receive six weeks pay per year. Last month the state broadcaster said it was now seeking to modify packages to boost take up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RT\u00c9 director general Kevin Bakhurst told the broadcaster\u2019s board in March he was working on a \u201cmore definitive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":515620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[93,61,60,47232,6085,282],"class_list":["post-515619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-kevin-bakhurst","tag-rte","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=515619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/515619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/515620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=515619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=515619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=515619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}