Regulator last year recommended that Government should give RTÉ additional €35m in 2027

Ireland’s media regulator recommended that the Government allocate an additional €35 million in funding to RTÉ in 2027, almost double the shortfall that was a source of controversy in last month’s budget.

Coimisiún na Meán (CnaM) recommended that the broadcaster receive a total of €275 million next year to help it hit its voluntary redundancy scheme targets and achieve its goal of commissioning more programming from independent producers.

RTÉ was allocated €240 million in the budget last month, €20 million lower than what was agreed as part of a landmark multiyear deal, unexpectedly freezing its funding at 2026 levels. Minister for Communications Patrick O’Donovan said at the time that he was displeased with the pace of reform at the broadcaster, specifically its voluntary exit scheme through which it is targeting some 400 job cuts.

Executives from the broadcaster, including director general Kevin Bakhurst, will appear before the Oireachtas Media Committee on Wednesday to discuss reform at the organisation and issues around funding.

In advance of the meeting, RTÉ sent a briefing document to committee members.

The document, seen by The Irish Times, reveals that CnaM recommended that the Government allocate an additional €15 million to RTÉ in 2026 and again in 2027 relative to what it was supposed to receive under the multiyear funding agreement reached with the previous Coalition in 2024.

[ RTÉ likely to get back €20m lost in Budget 2027 ‘if it proves reforms are on track’Opens in new window ]

It would mean that the broadcaster would receive €255 million instead of €240 million this year, and €275 million instead of €260 million in 2027.

The regulator made its recommendations in its most recent five-year review of public funding for public service media, which was published and sent to O’Donovan in the summer of 2025.

The recommendations “reflected CnaM’s statutory responsibilities, strategic objectives, regulatory experience and broad evidence base gathered through research and consultation”, RTÉ has told committee members in advance of the meeting.

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CnaM also sent a separate annual funding review to the minister earlier this year, details of which have not yet been published.

In its most recent annual review sent to the minister in July 2025, the regulator and consultancy firm Oliver & Ohlbaum Associates warned that RTÉ’s €240 million allocation for 2026 was “insufficient to fully support RTÉ’s sustainability, strategy and delivery of public service objectives”.

The decision to allocate €240 million again in 2027 sparked a political row after the budget last month.

O’Donovan warned Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers in a letter before the budget that the Coalition would “renege” on its funding deal with RTÉ if more cash was not found for his department.

In the final reckoning, an additional €21 million was allocated to O’Donovan’s department after the letter.

However, RTÉ’s allocation remained the same as in 2026 at €240 million.

Initially expressing shock and dismay at the interdepartmental dispute over RTÉ’s funding allocation, Bakhurst said last week that he is confident the shortfall will be secured.

Meanwhile, in a separate letter sent to the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee last week, RTÉ confirmed that its multiyear funding agreement was formalised in a short email from then-media minister Catherine Martin in 2024.