The €725m funding announced for RTÉ today would be better spent building 1,800 homes, according to Kieran Cuddihy.
The Hard Shoulder host condemned the new funding model for the national broadcaster, which maintains the license fee while introducing additional funding from the exchequer.
Cabinet signed off on the €725m package today, which will be spread across three years.
It comes amid a dip in numbers paying their TV license, following a number of high-profile scandals within RTÉ over the last two years.
'Some in RTÉ have shown financial ineptitude and outright dishonesty, and the Government have decided to reward them for it.' @kierancuddihy on @TheHardShoulder. pic.twitter.com/p5T4xQX2hT
— NewstalkFM (@NewstalkFM) July 24, 2024
Kieran Cuddihy said today's announcement stopped him in his tracks.
“It’s an eye-watering amount of money and you have to ask yourself: ‘What are they getting it for?’
“If you set aside director generals, barter accounts, vision strategies, Fair City and all that, the fact is some in RTÉ have shown everything from financial ineptitude to downright dishonesty.
“Now, the Government has decided to reward them for it.”
An RTÉ logo at its studios in Donnybrook, 19-7-23. Image: Andy Gibson / AlamyKieran said the money could be much better spent elsewhere.
“You could build 1,800 homes with it; it'd take 3,000 people off the social housing waiting list,” he said.
“You could fund 1,000 hospital beds for a decade, fund 2,000 extra nurses for a decade.
“Do you remember that whitewater rafting facility down the docklands that people got their knickers in a twist about? That was going to cost €25 million, so you could build 30 of them for this money.”
Kieran said the new model is a form of “double taxation.”
“The bulk of RTÉ funding will be through the television licence and then the shortfall every year will be made up from direct exchequer funding,” he said.
“This is a situation that Catherine Martin described as the worst of both worlds a few months ago - and today she signed off on it.”
Public service broadcasting
He said the Government has justified the money in the name of “public service broadcasting.”
“But Newstalk provides public service broadcasting without government bailouts,” said Kieran.
“Virgin Media provides public service broadcasting without government bailouts.
“Also, RTÉ and public service broadcasting are not one and the same; it is part of what they do, but it is not the only thing they do.”
Kieran noted documentaries such as Girls in Green and Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets were great examples of public service broadcasting, content RTÉ should emphasize in the future.
Main image: Kieran Cuddihy in Newstalk studios today. Image: Newstalk
