Media Minister Patrick O’Donovan’s department had budgeted for €183m going to RTÉ from the proceeds of the licence fee, but it now expects a higher amount will be allocated.
To allow this, the department has amended its 2025 estimates to reflect the fact that more than €183m is going to RTÉ from the proceeds of the compulsory charge. The station also makes commercial revenues of about €160m annually.
Sales of TV licences have rebounded since the impact of the Ryan Tubridy pay controversy finally dissipated.
The secret payments row peaked in June 2023, with Dee Forbes’ resignation as director general, and the purchase of TV licences went into steep decline almost immediately, amid a wave of public anger.
Sales recovered in 2024, and have remained steady this year. In the 10 months to the end of October, 650,629 licences were sold. In the same period last year, the figure was 661,090, but the gap between the two years has closed over the past two months.
Some 78,330 licences were sold in October, up from 76,916 in the same month last year, and up from 67,722 in October 2023, when anger over the secret payments to Mr Tubridy was at its peak.
The Government allocated €225m in public funding to RTÉ for 2025, with €42m coming from Exchequer resources, and the rest from the licence fee.
“The department now projects that revenue from television licence fee receipts will be higher than initially estimated in the Revised Estimates 2025,” a spokeswoman said.
“For that reason, an upward technical adjustment must be made to the €183m allocation to RTÉ in respect of TV licence fee receipts, to allow additional income to be distributed to RTÉ.”
The department stressed that while the Exchequer contribution may be reduced as a result, RTÉ will still get €225m in public funding this year.
RTÉ boss Kevin Bakhurst. Photo: Steve Humphreys
The supplementary estimate introduced by the department gives a figure of €187m as what it expects RTÉ will get from the proceeds of the TV licence.
Last March, the Government approved a voluntary exit scheme for RTÉ, which was launched the following month.
As part of a five-year strategy, which was announced after the payments scandal, the station is committed to cut staff numbers by up to 400.
RTÉ received 325 applications for the voluntary exit scheme, and director general Kevin Bakhurst recently said the station is on course to reduce numbers by more than 100 this year.
RTÉ recently announced the winding down of its TV documentary unit.