NATIONAL BROADCASTER RTÉ is set to spend an estimated €960,000 over four years on a string of five-star and four-star hotels around Dublin to accommodate celebrities and other contributors appearing on the station.

However, celebrities and contributors staying at the plush hotels will have to pay for their own alcoholic drinks, with the tender stating that no alcoholic drinks or bar items are to be charged to RTÉ by the hotels and no additional charges or services are to be charged to RTÉ.

According to a tender published on Friday, as part of its business RTÉ has a varying requirement for hotel services from conference room facilities for concert orchestra, celebrities and contributors accommodation.

The tender states that RTÉ “would like to create a framework with a limited number of hotel groups or individual hotels to deliver these services on a value for money basis”.

According to the tender, RTÉ had 1,318 hotel bookings in 2025 under the existing framework and this figure can fluctuate annually and is not an indication of booking numbers.

A spokeswoman for RTÉ said that the €960,000 is the estimated maximum for the four-year period.

The tender states that the contract duration is for an initial term of one year with the option to extend for a period of one year on no more than three occasions, a maximum of four years in total.

The RTÉ spokeswoman said: “As a public service media organisation with a large number of guests travelling to appear on our television and radio programmes, often at short notice, and with an RTÉ Concert Orchestra that performs frequently in Dublin city centre venues, RTÉ has an ongoing need to secure hotel rooms.

She said that through this public tender, for four-star and five-star hotels, “RTÉ will secure competitive rates for hotel rooms from a panel of hotels for the duration of the agreement (two years)”.

The spokeswoman said that a key principle of public procurement is that public bodies must demonstrate value for money, transparency, equal treatment and competition where appropriate.

She said that “all spend on hotel rooms is necessary to support RTÉ programming, live performances and events and is carefully negotiated to ensure value-for-money”.

The spokeswoman pointed out that “RTÉ also negotiates special rates with two-star and three-star hotels, particularly for occasions where hotel rooms are required by RTÉ staff due to work commitments.

RTÉ is seeking tenders for the new framework as the current framework expires at the end of this year.

The RTÉ spokeswoman said that under the current framework in place, 13 parties tendered and seven were appointed.

The closing date for the submission of tenders for the new framework is 4 November.