RTÉ faces €20m cut to planned 2027 funding as director general disputes minister

RTÉ will receive €240 million in public funding for 2027, €20 million less than it expected under a three-year agreement with the Irish Government, Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan confirmed on Wednesday, 7 October. The decision leaves the national broadcaster planning around a lower allocation while its director general, Kevin Bakhurst, warns that commitments made on the strength of the agreement will need to be reconsidered.

The 2024 agreement provided for €725 million over three years: €225 million in 2025, €240 million in 2026 and €260 million in 2027. The new figure keeps the 2027 headline allocation at the same level as 2026. It changes the amount RTÉ had been using to plan its next year of operations, according to Bakhurst.

Why Patrick O’Donovan reduced RTÉ’s planned funding

O’Donovan said he was unhappy with the pace of reform at RTÉ and its move towards a smaller, more agile organisation. He also pointed to limits on his department’s spending at a Budget briefing. Those are two elements of his public explanation; the reporting does not establish how much weight each carried in the decision.

The minister said an €11 million increase in RTÉ’s Exchequer funding already accounted for a substantial share of the additional money available to his department for 2027. The Irish Examiner reported his estimate that giving RTÉ the full €260 million would have taken almost 70% of the department’s overall budget increase. His comments place the reduction within a wider contest for departmental funds as well as his criticism of the broadcaster.

What Kevin Bakhurst says the cut means for RTÉ

Bakhurst said the reduction came as a shock and rejected O’Donovan’s claim that reform had been slow. In a message to staff reported by the Irish Examiner, he said the decision was one RTÉ had not anticipated and would inevitably affect its ability to deliver its five-year strategy. That is a warning about its plans, rather than an announcement of particular programme or job cuts caused by the new funding figure.

The director general said RTÉ had already made commitments to audiences, independent producers, other stakeholders and staff on the basis of the publicly announced funding agreement. According to the Irish Examiner, RTÉ chair Terence O’Rourke is seeking a meeting with O’Donovan about that commitment. Whether those talks will alter the 2027 allocation has not been established.

The disagreement extends to RTÉ’s record of change. Bakhurst claimed the broadcaster had completed 90% of its agreed reform agenda, RTÉ News reported. The Irish Times reported that RTÉ had set a target of cutting 400 jobs, and that O’Donovan raised concerns about the pace of that programme. Bakhurst said almost 100 people had already left the organisation. These accounts show why the pace of reform is contested; they do not resolve whether the Government’s expectations have been met.

RTÉ has also made changes to its output and production arrangements. The Irish Times reported that it had closed its in-house documentary unit, outsourced religious affairs programming and cancelled Upfront with Katie Hannon. The paper said RTÉ had also set out plans to outsource Fair City and The Late Late Show. Those are reported examples of reform already undertaken or planned, not measures announced in response to Wednesday’s funding decision.

What remains undecided about the 2027 allocation

The funding debate comes against pressure on another part of RTÉ’s finances. The Irish Times reported that most State funding for the broadcaster comes from television licence fees and that it needed a €41.3 million Exchequer top-up in the previous year. It also reported Bakhurst’s statement to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee in July that RTÉ would need €54.8 million in direct Government funding in 2026 amid falling licence-fee revenue.

RTÉ has said the €20 million reduction will affect its strategy, but the cited reports do not identify which services, productions or employment commitments will change as a result. The requested meeting between its chair and the minister is the next reported step. For now, the confirmed change is the 2027 allocation of €240 million, while the scale of any effect on viewers, staff and independent producers remains to be specified.