OIREACHTAS MEDIA CHAIR Alan Kelly has said he still has concerns in how RTÉ is handling its affairs. 

Speaking to The Journal in Galway, where the Labour Party think-in took place this week, Kelly said he believes the issue of funding and redundancies will be a “big issue” in the months ahead. 

When asked what could land on the desk of the committee regarding RTÉ this year, he said “you never know what’s going to go on with RTÉ, to be fair”.

Before the Dáil rose for the summer, RTÉ said it needed another multiannual funding commitment when the current package ends.

The director-general Kevin Bakhurst said he would “appeal very strongly” for a similar multiannual €725 million commitment when it next comes for review in 2027.

In August, an internal RTÉ analysis showed that “challenges” were presenting with the voluntary exit programme. The public broadcaster has a five-year strategy to reduce its headcount by up to 400 in the period up to 2029.

Kelly said he gets a lot of correspondence from people on RTÉ, and from those who work there, stating: “I would still have concerns in relation to how they’re dealing with things.”

“So definitely, that issue will come up, but we’ll give them an opportunity to update us, and we’ll go from there,” he said. 

Media committee the new PAC?

Kelly, who is Labour’s spokesperson for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, once sat on the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which is seen as the heavyweight when it comes to committees. 

However, the media committee has been making waves and headlines, with well-known players, such as RTÉ and a number of tech firms coming in for scrutiny by committee members over the last year.

“There’s a joke that a few journalists have said that it’s [the media committee] the new PAC,” Kelly said with a smile. 

The committee also deals with matters relating to sport and the arts, as well as social media.

“It’s such a wide area that there’s always a focus in on something. So I think that’s why it gets a lot of interest,” said Kelly.

Kelly has criticised TikTok for not agreeing to appear before a public sitting of the committee over videos on the platform of youths driving the wrong way down motorways being allowed to remain online after the M9 incident.

TikTok only offered to meet the committee if it was held in private session, but said it would appear in public session once examinations by An Garda Síochána and Coimisiún na Meán have concluded. 

Calling it a “slap in the face” of the committee, Kelly said “it doesn’t look good for them not coming in”.

Asked about the committee’s lack of power to compel people and companies to appear before them, Kelly acknowledged it is a “huge impediment, and everyone can see it now”. 

In 2011, the Fine Gael and Labour coalition government proposed to amend the Constitution to give Oireachtas committees the power to compel witnesses to attend their meetings. 

However, the referendum was defeated by 53.3% to 46.7%, halting any move to bolster the committee’s powers. 

Kelly said he isn’t too sure if the public would back another referendum on the issue, stating “that day has passed”.

“I’m not sure we as an Oireachtas are going to be able to deal with that in the near future. Maybe in a few years’ time, but at this juncture, I’m not sure a referendum would actually be put forward or, indeed, I’m not sure if the public would support it.

“And I say that with deep regret as somebody who’s served on lots of committees, particularly the PAC, and now this committee as chair, because it would be useful,” he said.