RTÉ crisis

O’Donovan: Public to foot the bill of RTÉ crisis as TV license reform rendered ‘dead in the water’

Junior Public Expenditure Minister questioned the public service value of the national broadcaster, saying any review into its structure should consider the prospect of narrowing its reach

Patrick O’Donovan, a junior minister at the Department of Public Expenditure: “The government is the bank of last reserve here for RTÉ, because there's no doubt about it, there's going to be a serious hit to the licence fee”

Patrick O’Donovan, a junior minister at the Department of Public Expenditure, has said that the ongoing financial and governance scandal at RTÉ has rendered any reform to the television licence fee system “dead in the water”, while the public will have to foot the bill for any hit to commercial revenue caused by the scandal.

The Limerick TD questioned the public service value of the state broadcaster in its current form. He said that its ...