Ms Teresa Hannick:

SIPTU welcomes the opportunity to appear before the committee. SIPTU is the largest trade union in Ireland and represents the largest and most diverse membership within RTÉ, including workers in administrative, operational, technical and directing grades, musicians and actor members of Irish Equity, which is an affiliate of SIPTU. An extremely large proportion of our members earn less than the average industrial wage.

The current crisis in RTÉ, brought about by the revelations in the summer of 2023, posed serious questions about RTÉ in terms of trust, corporate governance, corporate culture and transparency. For several years, our members have had deep misgivings relating to the governance of RTÉ. They have had to deal with various crises that resulted in job losses and pay cuts while being informed by management that everyone in the organisation would be treated the same. We cannot overstate the sense of betrayal our members felt when the disclosures in 2023 revealed that not everyone was treated the same and not everyone felt the pain of pay cuts and other changes.

Our members are proud of the work they do in RTÉ, the national broadcaster. SIPTU and its members support the requirement for a public service broadcaster for the benefit of democracy and our society. As stakeholders, our members must be part of any discussion that can improve this service for the people of our country.

In November 2023, our members read about the RTÉ management’s strategic vision plan, A New Direction for RTÉ, in the media. Once again, our members found out about their future through leaks in the media before being told directly by their employer. The announcement of 400 job losses sent shockwaves across RTÉ and rumours spread like wildfire about where these job losses would be. Our members have gone through previous change plans before and the cuts always seem to impact our membership more so than members of any of the other unions.

Since that announcement, there has been no information or detail as to where these 400 job losses are to come from. Our members were told that 168 of them will come from natural wastage by way of retirements, etc. The director general has stated publicly that news and current affairs will not be affected by these job losses, but he has not indicated if any other areas will not be affected, which would suggest that the bulk of the 400 job losses will more than likely come from operational areas. Most of the workers in these areas are SIPTU members.

Our Irish Equity members acting in "Fair City" have been dealing with suggestions that the production would be outsourced to an independent production company. While that has not happened, they have been informed there will be no filming in July and August this year. This is happening so that management can use the technical staff to cover the 2024 European Football Championship, the Paris Olympic Games and the GAA championships, all of which require huge resources. This is a new development that has never happened previously, even though RTÉ has broadcast these events before. The national broadcaster has a duty, under its public service broadcasting remit, to produce drama like "Fair City". Our members in Irish Equity are extremely disappointed and distressed by this reduction in filming and they believe that RTÉ management considers them second-class employees and expendable if savings need to be made. It could seem to an outside observer that when money needs to be saved, "Fair City" and drama are easy targets.

The RTÉ Concert Orchestra is central to RTÉ fulfilling its public service broadcasting remit. The orchestra is a vital part of the arts, music and education ecosystem in Ireland. The RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra was transferred to the remit of the National Concert Hall in 2022. Our members in the RTÉ Concert Orchestra are extremely concerned about their future. The orchestra performed to over 69,000 live audience members last year, as well as to many hundreds of thousands of listeners to the orchestra's broadcasts in Ireland, across the EU as part of the EBU broadcast network and worldwide, on radio, television and online. The orchestra works with both young and established Irish and international artists of the highest quality. It is a significant cultural asset in Ireland, and its place in RTÉ’s future strategic planning should be of great importance.

RTÉ has been moving slowly into the 21st century. New technology has been embraced by our members and the result in output to the public has been noticeable. New studios, production models and investments have all been welcomed enthusiastically. However, it is clear that RTÉ and our members need more. Our members tell us that the "Nuacht" studio in the organisation is falling apart and it is an extremely difficult and stressful situation to work in.

There are concerns about the vague references in A New Direction for RTÉ to automation and AI and how that will impact staffing levels going forward. While our members welcome investment in technology and skills, there is no detail regarding what that means for the workers in those areas. All they know is that A New Direction for RTÉ states there will be a 20% reduction in headcount, but as to who or where and what impact it will have on workers, there are no details. There is also a reference to a 50% increase in commissioning spending by 2028 on independent productions as part of a hybrid production model. Again, we have no information on what that means for our members in RTÉ.

Our members welcome the opportunity to address other concerns that they all recognise within the organisation, including slow, backdated administrative processes, poor governance and a concentration on commercial activities as opposed to public service broadcasting. It is extremely difficult, however, to engage constructively with an employer that launches an ambiguous document labelled a strategic vision for the future with no real detail on where these 400 job losses will come from, nor how they will be achieved, and with nothing on what the implications could be on the lives of the workers left behind.

These are real and genuine concerns for our members. We have a real opportunity, if management engages constructively, to get this right and address these problems within RTÉ. SIPTU and our members believe this can only be done with proper engagement and not by setting up multiple working groups which do not fully address the issues and have little or no ability to effect real change in the culture, corporate governance and transparency needed in RTÉ and, above all, rebuild trust in the national broadcaster.

I am conscious of the time. My colleagues have gone through the bogus self-employment aspect, but it is important to speak a little about what it means to actors. Actors in "Fair City" have only recently become RTÉ employees. However, they do not have a contract of indefinite duration, despite some of them working in drama for over 20 years. From media reports last year, we know that RTÉ has settled claims by several actors from "Fair City" on their claim for contracts of indefinite duration. This practice of not dealing with this issue collectively but by settling individual claims with a secrecy clause has led to division and created a difficult environment for these workers. They must agree to RTÉ having first call when it comes to them being available for work outside of RTÉ.

To explain what this means, as an actor, it is necessary to seek permission before accepting any other offer of work and this is done with the executive producer. 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. It is difficult not to see this as an example of how actors are controlled by RTÉ. These actors have two months this year without work and they are still going to face this situation.

We thank the committee for allowing SIPTU to present to it. The uncertainty for our members in RTÉ must end. Our members want full transparency and the creation of an action plan for the national broadcaster that places a commitment to public service at its centre, not a slash-and-burn plan that threatens to reduce staffing levels and terms and conditions of employment.