RTÉ is on course to reduce its staff numbers by 400 people over the next five years, after 65 of the 107 employees who were offered voluntary redundancy packages accepted their deal, director general Kevin Bakhurst has told an Oireachtas committee.
The national broadcaster will also outsource National Lottery draws as it continues to look for cost savings and staff reductions, Mr Bakhurst confirmed.
RTÉ is aiming to reach the targeted staff reduction through its voluntary exit scheme, which Mr Bakhurst said has received more than 300 applications, as well as resignations, retirements and “role suppression”.
“We had 308 applications. We made 107 offers. We’ve had 65 acceptances of those voluntary exit offers, either severance or retirement,” the former BBC News executive told the Joint Oireachtas Media and Communications Committee on Wednesday.
“So the acceptance rate was around 63 per cent of the offers we made.”
He said the broadcaster has had around 30 resignations or retirements, “where we have suppressed” or declined to back-fill the roles.
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“Overall, those numbers together, obviously, are up into the high 90s. So we’re still very hopeful indeed of 100 exits this year from RTÉ,” Mr Bakhurst said.
In response to questions from Social Democrats TD Sinead Gibney, Mr Bakhurst confirmed plans to outsource National Lottery programming as part of its cost savings initiative.
Last month, the broadcaster confirmed plans to shut down its in-house television documentary unit and has already announced that it plans to switch production of some religious programming, specifically “Christian worship content”, to outside producers.
Although the department has retained a commissioning editor, it means Masses will no longer be broadcast from Donnybrook and instead will be produced by churches nationwide.
RTÉ also plans to outsource production of the Late Late Show and Fair City to external producers.
Asked by Ms Gibney if management is targeting any other programmes, Mr Bakhurst said: “The Lotto will be going out, because that costs a lot of money to do. It’s a better way to do it, and also enables us to let a few more people leave who couldn’t leave this year.”
