A review of the television licence fee today cleared RTE of holding an unfair advantage when bidding for programme rights or selling advertising.
An independent report into RTE's request for a €2 increase in the licence fee found there was no proof that RTE was using the extra cash to act in an anti-competitive manner.
The Minister for Communications, Natural Resources and the Marine, Mr Dempsey confirmed today no further action would be taken against RTE.
The Government agreed to an external review on the impact on all broadcasters of the licence fee paid to RTE with emphasis on the advertising market.
TV3, the only national free-to-air broadcaster, claimed RTE had driven down advertising rates to the detriment of commercially funded broadcasters, that rates did not keep pace with inflation, and that they were the lowest in the EU.
The review rejected these claims and revealed it was "highly unlikely" RTE could abuse such market power as rates were re-set each month.
The licence fee now set at €152 a year accounts for almost half of RTE's total revenues. The European Commission is currently considering a complaint concerning state aid to RTE.
The independent report said they had seen no evidence RTE had systematically outbid commercial broadcasters. RTE and TV3 said they rarely competed head-to-head for the same rights.
But the report said commercial considerations apart, RTE may have felt compelled to secure certain rights to fulfil its public service obligations.
And it showed RTE could attract larger audiences and more revenue when identical programmes switched stations.
The report said, "On commercial grounds alone, therefore, it is not unreasonable that RTE might outbid commercial broadcasters for certain rights."
The independent review was carried out over the last two months by Europe Economics, in conjunction with Curtin Dorgan Associates and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
PA