The news service provided by RTÉ to TG4 is “no longer fit for purpose”, said TG4 director general Alan Esslemont, as he called on the Government to give it €13.6 million in Budget 2025 to set up its own independent news operation next year.
The Future of Media Commission recommended in its 2021 report that the Irish language broadcaster be permitted by the State to operate a fully independent news service, with this recommendation accepted by the Government in July 2022.
However, Mr Esslemont said progress had stalled and Nuacht TG4, which RTÉ supplies to TG4 under its statutory obligations, had been “navigated into a backwater” and was resourced in a manner that would not be accepted for English language news.
“The lack of investment in newsroom equipment and staff training over at least 20 years is truly shocking,” he said.
Mr Esslemont said RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst was the de facto editor-in-chief of TG4′s news service and that this put TG4 in “a really difficult position”. He said TG4 had in the past offered to supply RTÉ with its Irish language news but the reverse situation and the consequences it would have for RTÉ's editorial independence had been “a stumbling block”.
TG4, which was awarded public funding of €57 million for 2024, has asked for additional funding of €26 million for 2025 in its pre-budget submission, saying it would need about half of this increase to set up an independent news operation.
This would bring its annual funding to €83 million. Mr Esslemont has consistently argued, however, that TG4′s public funding should ultimately reach 50 per cent of the level awarded to RTÉ. If this principle was applied in 2025, for instance, its funding would be €112.5 million.
Mr Esslemont said the broadcaster had been “round the houses” with RTÉ in relation to Nuacht TG4′s future and that there had been a “long delay” before it received RTÉ's position, after which he sought further dialogue with Mr Bakhurst and engagement with the National Union of Journalists (NUJ).
Mr Esslemont is a critic of both the State and RTÉ's approach to the Irish language, saying only TG4 has “real and tangible” ambitions for the language.
“At the heart of our strategy, we support a viable future for the Irish-speaking community,” he said.
Mr Bakhurst last week highlighted Irish language broadcasting as one of RTÉ's responsibilities under its public service remit and one of the reasons it has secured a new funding agreement with the Government.
‘With airlines there’s always some volatility'
He said it was wrong to say RTÉ was stalling the establishment of an independent TG4 news service, adding that it had provided costings on TG4′s plan and an alternative RTÉ plan to the regulator, Coimisiún na Meán.
“That’s exactly what the process is and it is sitting with Coimisiún na Meán for their view now on the way forward,” Mr Bakhurst said.
Coimisiún na Meán’s media development commissioner Rónán Ó Domhnaill is conducting a broad review of Irish language broadcasting, which TG4 expects will recommend improved funding for the Baile na hAbhann, Co Galway-headquartered broadcaster.
Mr Esslemont said he hoped the Government’s €725 million, three-year deal with RTÉ would “help remove some of the roadblocks”. He said it was encouraging to see this agreement bear the “fingerprints” of the European Media Freedom Act, which states that public media funding should be both adequate and predictable.
“They have to apply that [principle] to TG4 now as well as to RTÉ.”
The week before last year’s budget he had been under the impression that TG4 would receive a €10.6 million funding increase for 2024, but by budget day this had dropped to €4.8 million, he said.
“My only fear is that if the new RTÉ funding settlement only strengthens the monolith, then a great disservice to public service media in Ireland will have been done because public service content comes from a lot more than just RTÉ.”
- Sign up for Business push alerts and have the best news, analysis and comment delivered directly to your phone
- Join The Irish Times on WhatsApp and stay up to date
- Our Inside Business podcast is published weekly – Find the latest episode here
