A local TD says workers at RTÉ are “disgusted” following the payments controversy at the public service broadcaster.
Deputy Alan Kelly, who is a member of the Public Accounts Committee, says he wants to hear from the Executive, the Chairperson, and the previous chairperson, as well as Dee Forbes and all the executives who oversee remuneration and payments across RTÉ.
RTÉ staff are staging protest against the practices on the broadcaster’s campus in Donnybrook this lunchtime, and Deputy Kelly says many of them will have taken pay cuts over the years.
“They are absolutely disgusted by what’s happening because during bad times they had to take pay cuts; some of them are on contracts; they can’t get mortgages. There are a range of workers inside there who have been in touch with me many times now about bogus self-employment, about their contracts not being up to scratch, about the fact they don’t get holiday pay, and a range of other things. They’re disgusted about what they’ve found out. Really now, I think RTÉ’s statement today really needs to give it all. This idea that they won’t be able to tell us what went on between 2017 and 2019 won’t stand up.”
He also has described presenter salaries at RTÉ as “obscene” and all presenters should be employed by RTÉ rather than self-employed, so there are caps on their salaries.
“We’ve also got to look at the whole issue of side deals – deals for presenters where there are car companies or other companies – and also the issue that I really, really feel strong about, like why do these people need to be self-employed? Why do they need agents in the first place? You should work directly for RTÉ; it’s our national broadcaster. I believe in public service broadcasting, I believe in paying for it, I believe in having a license fee, etc. I mean, I’m sorry, but these salaries are obscene. There are loads of other people who are equally talented who can do the job if the people sitting there at the moment don’t want that salary. They can look elsewhere; we can find other people to do it.”
