Sir, - You reported (June 26th, 27th) that RTE had produced a Review of Structures and Operations. RTE is worried about both increased competition and falling revenues. It doesn't face a bright future. There is mention in your reports of up to 400 redundancies.
Can one ask, therefore, why RTE is about to embark on a 30,000 sq ft office and studio extension at Montrose costing, it is believed, about £6m of public money? Is this really necessary, or even prudent, in the circumstances? Will there be a licence fee increase to pay for this, as well as for the proposed redundancies?
The RTE Group of Unions in its own report, also published last week, states that RTE should focus on reduction of costs and expenditure. The provision of more luxury office space and additional studios at Montrose doesn't seem to me to be a particularly good way of going about this. Or is it that licence fee payers are expected, as usual, to simply "put up and shut up"? - Yours, etc., C. Clancy,
Nutley Road,
Dublin 4.