MONTROSE MONEY PIT HITS US ALL

WE REALLY do have to talk about RTÉ – and the way money is being spent out there in the Donnybrook prideland.

The broadcaster’s 2017 financial report shows how a €99.5m gain from selling off land has been halved to just €48.5m in a matter of months.

Nearly €30m of that money went to ‘restructuring and other charges’. Our ‘taste’ came to €21.4m in tax.

However, the real point is that ALL the money from the sale of the RTÉ should have ended up in (our) State pockets. Any restructuring at RTÉ should be based on sound business principles – and, as such, paid for itself. The land windfall was ours.

RTÉ finances have been pretty disastrous for years, with the station losing €114.6m from 2010 to 2017.

All this despite raking in almost €1.46bn in licence fees during that period.

An average of €183.2m has been pushed in the door to RTÉ every every one of those years and still it is strapped for cash.

For sure, there needs to be a chat about RTÉ.