Mr. Adrian Kane:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to address it this evening. It is an important opportunity to future-proof public service broadcasting and ensure fair and sustainable employment in a rapidly evolving media environment. SIPTU supports increased investment in independent production. Many of our members work in this sector, and we recognise the valuable contribution which this sector makes. However, we wish to make our position clear with regard to one fundamental issue to which our colleagues have already referred, namely, that this additional spend must not displace existing work currently carried out by RTÉ staff.

We are concerned that unless properly safeguarded, the independent spend obligation could become a mechanism for outsourcing RTÉ production. This would result in the loss of secure, pensionable jobs and a weakening of in-house public service capacity. Our position is simple: increased funding should support new content and employment, not a reallocation of work already being undertaken by RTÉ workers. The benefits of growth in the sector must be shared equitably, without undermining existing public service employment.

SIPTU, in addition to representing RTÉ and independent sector workers, also has Irish Equity as an affiliate. Irish Equity is a signatory to the stakeholder guidelines implementing the EU copyright directive and has raised concerns regarding the use of buy-out contracts by RTÉ and TG4. These contracts, which are still in use despite the transposition of the directive into Irish law via SI 567 of 2021, oblige performers to waive their statutory rights to equitable and proportionate remuneration. Irish Equity also has further concerns over the use of material from the archives, in particular, efforts to amend performers’ collective agreements without reference to the union. It is vitally important that the industry becomes fully compliant with all copyright legislation. SIPTU accordingly supports Irish Equity’s call for legislative amendments which would recognise performers’ copyright and remuneration rights under Irish and EU law, tie public funding to contractual compliance with those rights, and establish an independent complaints and enforcement mechanism under Coimisiún na Meán to adjudicate in disputes on these matters.

There is a fundamental matter at stake here, namely, how public funding is spent and what type of employment results from this spend. If we are to grow the sector responsibly, public money, whether allocated to RTÉ or the independent sector, must uphold the highest standards in employment and contract practices. SIPTU is calling for a balanced and fair approach to protect in-house production and employment at RTÉ, support genuine growth in the independent sector and ensure that all public funding is conditional on respect for workers’ rights, whether they are RTÉ staff, freelance crew or professional performers and creatives.