RTÉ’s Director General Kevin Bakhurst has “categorically” denied pulling TV licence adverts from the broadcasting station.
The Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport & Media are currently in a meeting in the Dáil to continue their discussion on the transparency of RTÉ’s expenditure of public funds, governance issues, & future funding challenges.
In the Committee hearing, Mr. Bakhurst denied that advertising urging people to pay the TV licence fee, was deliberately pulled last year in order to collapse revenues to precipitate a decision on funding.
He told Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin that the said ads were pulled last July given the “constant scandal” unfolding and he did not think it was appropriate to urge people to pay the fee.
He said: “We were already worried about cashflow, that was the main motivator… It would have been tone deaf.”
Mr. Griffin then asked whether the decision was strategic and done in the hope that fee income would completely collapse.
Mr Bakhurst said it would have been disrespectful to the audience to run the ads and he said the decision was taken in consultation with the Department, An Post and was run by the board.
Mr Griffin said it was an “incredible decision to make at a time when you were haemorrhaging money”.
