RTÉ HAS SAID that Fair City will continue to air throughout the summer months, despite concerns that were expressed today over pressure on the public broadcaster’s resources.
Representatives of multiple trade unions have appeared before the Oireachtas Media Committee today to discuss governance and culture issues at RTÉ.
SIPTU was one of the unions at the committee and it raised concerns relating to Fair City staff.
SIPTU’s Teresa Hannick said members have been told that there will be “no filming” for Fair City in July and August.
She added that this is because technical staff will be covering the UEFA Women’s Euro 2025 football championships, the Paris Olympics, and the GAA Championship which “require huge resources”.
In a statement to The Journal, an RTÉ spokesperson said that from January, Fair City reduced on air from four episodes per week to three episodes to allow for a pause in production during July and August.
The spokesperson added that RTÉ has continued to produce four episodes per week, despite only airing three episodes.
They said this will allow for new episodes of Fair City to continue to air during the summer months, and that the exact schedule will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
The RTÉ spokesperson also referenced a press release from November of last year, outlining this reduction from four to three aired episodes per week from January.
The issue of bogus self-employment contracts for RTÉ workers dominated discussions at the committee this afternoon.
It refers to the misclassification of workers’ employment status, and the Department of Social Enterprise is currently investigating whether close to 700 RTÉ workers should have been classified as full employees.
“Fair City actors have only recently become RTÉ employees, but they do not have a contract of indefinite duration, despite some of them working in the drama for over 20 years,” Hannick told the Committee.
She also referenced reports that RTÉ settled a claim by several actors from Fair City on their claim for a contract of indefinite duration.
Hannick said the “practice of settling claims with a secrecy clause leads to division and creates a difficult environment for colleagues working together”.
She also claimed that Fair City actors must agree to RTÉ having “first call” when it comes to them being available to work outside of RTÉ.
This means an actor must seek permission before accepting any other offer of work.
Hannick told the Committee: “The Executive Producer confirms if it is appropriate for the actor to accept such an engagement and the actor must accept the Executive Producer’s decision as final.
“There is no appeal.”
Hannick said it is “difficult not to see this as an example of how actors are controlled by RTÉ”.
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