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A SENIOR FIGURE in RTÉ, Adrian Lynch, has said that financial difficulties at the station led them to the decision to stop making children’s programmes – and also confirmed Fair City will not be outsourced, despite some media reports.
Earlier this week, the public service broadcaster announced that it would stop making inhouse programmes, and would instead outsource vacancies to independent contractors.
In a statement, RTÉ said this decision was taken to achieve better “value for money” in a “challenging financial environment” .
Speaking on RTÉ’s Drivetime today, channel controller for RTÉ One and RTÉ2 Adrian Lynch said the decision to stop making children’s television programmes was taken because of “acute financial difficulties” at the station, which were augmented by the threat of Brexit.
He also said that the organisation had an obligation to outsource €40 million of its production to the independent sector.
Earlier this evening, the Trade Union Group (TUG) said that they had made progress in their talks with RTÉ to stop the move, in the acknowledgement that some of the workers’ rights had been breached as unions were not consulted.
In a statement released to the media, RTÉ and the TUG said:
RTÉ and TUG met today to discuss RTÉ’s decision to transfer of all Young People’s Programming to the independent sector.
RTÉ accepted that there has been a breach of the ‘Guiding Principles Agreement’ which commit to prior consultation on significant issues.
It has been agreed that union and management will enter into comprehensive discussions on this matter in line with our agreements. Discussions will conclude no later than 31 January 2017.
Speaking on Drivetime on this development, Lynch refused to confirm that the move had been suspended until the end of this consultation period (31 January).
He said that the previously mentioned financial difficulties and the obligation of the station to outsource remained, despite the outcome of today’s talks.
But SIPTU campaigns and equality organiser, Karan O’Loughlin, said that the outcome had “highlighted the value of workers, through their trade unions, securing collective agreements with an employer”.
“Throughout the forthcoming period of talks we will be ensuring that our members interests are protected and the public service ethos of the station are safeguarded.”
Yesterday, the decision to outsource children’s programming was discussed in the Seanad – and Jimmy Dignam of the Workers’ Party called the decision “a slippery slope towards further privatisation of a vital public service.”
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Scrap high salaries to the likes of Joe Duffy, Marian Finucane, Ryan Tubridy, Miriam O’Callaghan etc etc. High salaries are paid to someone who has a rare skill who is in danger of being headhunted.
None of these people have a rare skill and most certainly are not in danger of being headhunted. Cannot see the BBC or ITV crying out for them anytime soon.
Great idea. Scrap the people that being in the advertising revenue and keep making kids programmes. Genius stuff altogether.
Did I say scrap the presenters?
They have nowhere else to go. No skill to speak of. It’s their only gig. RTÉ can cut their salary considerably as it’s the one in the strong position. If they want to keep working, none of these people have another choice really.
Ha ha brilliant Nick
A+ trolling Nick – well done!
@ Nick..knock knock anymore, come with me through the magic door..I wish they could bring all the above mentioned through it..and leave them there in their “safe space”..
I have an idea lets stop wasting money on a dumb tv license and scrap rte all together.
But if the over paid staff get a cut in pay how will the executive’s that do this justify their pay without cutting their own!…..
@Donncha Glad you omitted one of our greats. He’ll be up there with the best, Carson, Letterman, Darcy …
@Donncha Ó Coileáin: Scrap the memorandum in place that forces RTE to have religious output and let those people follow up their fairytales on their own time.
@mrsnuffle how will I know it’s dinner time without the Angelus
@Donncha Ó Coileáin: ya joe duffy gets paid more than Obama. what a joke. get rid of these sponges.
@Leitrim303:
At least Joe Duffy reaches people.
@Shelly, Ryan is not in that league.
Oi! You lie ace Marian Finucane alone. She’s a saint/national treasure. Literally could not eat my breakfast of a weekend without that gravelly voice of hers talking about this and that
‘Fair City is safe’
Just when you thought things couldn’t get any worse.
Scrap fair city – total rubbish. Any programme that replaces it would surely be better and more cost effective.
My local primary schools Christmas nativity play has better acting and higher production values than fair city it’s absolute unadulterated muck
@Conor Heffernan:
Probably the only was many Dubs know what’s going on in their city.
Peter
It amazing how many daft comment like that people make on the journal. The mind boggles with your stupidity
@nick watched 15 minutes of it with my Mam last Sunday and I stand by my comment it’s an appalling show terrible acting terrible sets and production values.The only time I’ve watched something where the ads came as a welcome relief
Yeah Nick, if you watch Fair City you are part of a very “special” bunch of people that walk the planet. Christ alive it makes your eyes bleed. And you call Peter stupid….I’d say you are some craic!!
Fair city is fairly sh!ty
Gone fairly quite there Nick………Could it be possible that people think that its not Peter is the stupid one!!
The ratings for fair city says most of the people here are talking through their hoop. It has an audience whether you like it or not
Who pays for the ratings to be done?
While I can’t account for Rte’s Children’s programming today, I know I enjoyed it when I was young. To scrap it in favour for Fair City is…well its not nice.
Kids programming is not being scraped, it is being outsourced. There will be exactly the same funding for kids programmes and exactly the same airtime
Had the misfortune to watch it last week..young girl held prisoner in a steel shed with a few bits of styrofoam for soundproofing..and no one can hear her! ffs..i can’t even start a bloody drill in mine before the missus complaints about noise..and I have it insulated and panelled..
Fair City is a carbon copy of Eastenders with Irish accents and less shouting
Bring back Glenroe it was axed at the height of its popularity
RTE do good nature programmes in fairness not many but good quality
Most of the main actors from Glenroe are dead.
Is Blackie Connors dead?
Fair City – the retirement home for RTE ‘actors’
Maybe they could combine children’s programming with Fair City. I might watch the show if Zig and Zag, Dustin, Zuppie, Snotzer and the sock monster are it.
The average acting standard would instantly be increased….
Agreed, although it might be difficult to get Snotzer back. I believe he regularly performs Shakespeare in the globe theatre in London. Fair City might be beneath him.
Bring back Bosco
@Ann Harman:
Bring back the drill through the head.
As a young actress at the time! I was chuffed to be part of irelands new soap…fair city…where I played a leading role for 10 years!….I can tell you the wages were appalling!…you were made feel totally insecure! Every week..your nerves would be gone when you got your script!…”am I written out this week”?…you could never plan your life!..ie..buy a car etc I would go to the canteen at lunch…and look around at many of the “celebs”!!!!….who were being paid obscene …and still are..being paid massive unworthy wages!…I got up many a mormimg at 5..to put in 10 hour days!..some weeks I would have to borrow petrol.money to get there!…in my opinion RTE is a quango for a very selected few..bit like leimster house!..guess this post fks me up for any future roles in the likes of “ros na run” etc..lol :-)
More fool you to do it for 10 years so.
Fire the management team if they cannot balance their books , get rid of that ridiculous orchestra costs over 10M a year , close the loss making radio stations , cut the number of staff by 10-15% outsource production , sell of some of those buildings in Montrose but don’t expect the government to give into increasing licence fee increase !
RTE have Ray D’Arcy on the radio and a show on TV.
Is it being run by complete idiots. Obviously it is.
Solution, sell it off to private business. See how long the ‘Protected ‘ would last then. They would volunteer vast salary cuts, in an effort to be kept. They know their real value on the open market. Minimum wage for the best of them. I
Glenroe was some pile of s$ite. Who mentioned that crap. Holy God.
@ Nick Allen
You are in the category of put it back in the box, because you are too stupid to use it.
Go away quietly, now.
Public service ethos protected sounds like a polite way of saying license fee increase
Yeah,sack the lower paid,keep the high earners.professionally run companies do the opposite.
I think in my entire life I have watched maybe 2 episodes of fair shitty
Don’t tell anybody, but if you turn on RTGEE now, Nick is presenting The Late, Late ,Show, with other ex RTGEE presenters.
If one could act one certainly wouldent get a job on fair city.it would show how dreadfully bad the others are……..a desperate show with fifth rate actors and thats being generous
What is RTE?
RTE is:
Really Terrible Entertainment
Rotten Television Experience
I am watching The Late Late Show at the minute!
BBC gets the license fee in the UK , no ads, fair enough bloody good stuff produced. i accept it is very different over there with a big population , but RTE getting the license and the ad revenue makes you wonder why they cannot make ends meet, well not really as any 4 year old could answer that ! I mean there are so many misfits presenting/reporting , in one instance I thought it might be that they are legally obliged to give on screen jobs to disabled people, but that would be unkind to the disabled. No, I think there are friends of friends and social friends of employees all being helped on to the gravy train. And that is before you start looking at the huge administration departments ! But I do enjoy watching how bad the reporting from around the country is on the news and particularly enjoy the guy in the north with the big red face who stands with the mike a mile in front of him as if he is afraid of it ! Jealousy will get me nowhere !
I don’t see any difference between children’s programmes and Fair City
What has brexit got to do with it
By failing to act as an honest unbiased broadcasting service, RTE lost the support of the people. When I realized they were corrupt, I arranged a meeting with it Director of programmes, but he refused to listen. Sheltered employment and all that. We need to end the restriction of broadcasting and allow everyone do it. In any event the internet is by passing to whole thing. In 4 years time there will be no newspaper and the license fee will become politically unsustainable.
I sat through 2hrs of Bosco. 100 male virgins whahayyy!
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