RTÉ land sale and restructuring [Merged]

The Cush

RTÉ submitted a planning application in early May to Dublin City Council for the relocation of the Fair City set to a new location on campue

http://www.dublincity.ie/swiftlg/apas/run/WPHAPPDETAIL.DisplayUrl?theApnID=2874/17

Location maps and other documentation can be seen under the "View Documents" tab.

Full Development Description

PROTECTED STRUCTURE: Development at a 0.41 hectare site. The application site is located within the RTE Campus which includes 2 no. protected structures Montrose House (RPS No. 7847) and Mount Errol House (RPS Ref. 7846), with access off Nutley Lane. The proposed development comprises of the following: - Relocation of Fair City Lott filming set to a site in the north eastern area of the RTE Campus adjoining the boundary with properties on Nutley Road. This area is currently in use as a car parking area and a waste compacting area. The Fair City set will comprise of a total of 11 no. sets varying height from 6.1 m to 8.46 m and will include internal roads and footpaths. - Provision of new internal service road to the north west of the existing Administration Building; - Relocation of waste compacting and recycling area to the north eastern elevation and southern elevation of the existing Workshop Building; - New 2.5 m high blockwork screening wall along eastern boundary of the amenity space to the south east of the Workshop Building; - Provision of new 2.5 m timber clad fence along the north eastern boundary of the Fair City set and 1.8 m paladin fence along the remaining boundaries to enclose the Fair City Lott filming set; and - Provision of landscaped screen along the north eastern boundary of the Fair City Lott. - The application will also include all associated infrastructure and ancillary works including drainage, hard and soft landscaping to facilitate the development.

The Cush

From today's Irish Indo - http://www.independent.ie/business/media/rt-to-pay-out-25m-to-cut-100-jobs-35788765.html

- First round of voluntary redundancy offers at RTÉ is expected in August.
- Up to 100 employees to be targeted in the first-round offers, cost will be at least €25m and will take place over two years.
- Employees over 55 years of age initially, but if not enough apply then the offer will be broadened out to others
- Staff will have 8 weeks to consider package
- Voluntary exit programme details not announced yet

A minimum of 200 voluntary redundancies - or 10pc of staff - is needed for a restructuring bid, in order to cut crippling costs and improve broadcast technologies.

"It's expected that a lot of decisions regarding staff and physical changes around the Montrose campus will be made by October this year," the source added.

Elmo

Seems like at least 50% of there land sale revenue will go towards redundancy.

250,000 on average for redundancy????

Sorry that's for the full 200 but even still 125,000 redundancy!!!

The Cush

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/bids-of-close-to-90-million-submitted-for-rt%C3%A9-site-in-donnybrook-1.3117217

Sources have suggested that bids of €85 million-plus have been lodged. Cairn Homes, the Irish property group listed on the London stock market, is considered to be the front runner. The company is understood to have a fully-funded bid that does not require external finance.

Cairn last month raised €51.9 million in gross proceeds from a share placing, leaving it well positioned to acquire additional land for development purposes.
...

The latest round of offers were lodged on June 8th. The expectation is that a winning bid will be announced in the coming day although RTÉ and Savills could yet decide to hold a run-off between the two highest bidders.

Elmo

105million according to one report.

The Cush

Elmo wrote: »

105million according to one report.

That would be appear to be a bit over the top, a increased bid of around €20-25m from the first round

TheBlock

Elmo wrote: »

105million according to one report.

€107 Million

The Cush

Wow, €107.5m

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/commercial-property/cairn-homes-to-buy-rt%C3%A9-land-at-donnybrook-for-107-5m-1.3118057

Irish listed property group significantly outbid rivals for prime site in Dublin 4

dublinman1990

To be fair that is a magnificent sum of money for RTÉ. That will go a long way to redeveloping the campus long term.

The average price of a new unit built there will cost around €200k according to thejournal.ie.

http://www.thejournal.ie/rte-montrose-land-sold-2-3442357-Jun2017/

Peregrine

dublinman1990 wrote: »

To be fair that is a magnificent sum of money for RTÉ. That will go a long way to redeveloping the campus long term.

The average price of a new unit built there will cost around €200k according to thejournal.ie.

http://www.thejournal.ie/rte-montrose-land-sold-2-3442357-Jun2017/

It'll be a lot more than €200k. €200k is the cost per unit on the price of the land alone if they built 500 units. And the chances of them being allowed to build more than 500 units are quite low with our NIMBY-sided planning system and poor infrastructure.

Elmo

dublinman1990 wrote: »

To be fair that is a magnificent sum of money for RTÉ. That will go a long way to redeveloping the campus long term.

The average price of a new unit built there will cost around €200k according to thejournal.ie.

http://www.thejournal.ie/rte-montrose-land-sold-2-3442357-Jun2017/

They won't get all of it and as posted earlier 25million will go to redundancies. RTÉ will have 50-70million left over!

The Cush

€107m price tag for RTÉ site at Montrose stuns property market

That headline just says it all.

The sale of the 8.5-acre RTÉ site in Montrose to Cairn Homes for €107.5m is the highest price shelled out for residential land in Ireland in a decade.

Property market sources are "flabbergasted" at the price paid for a site that was guided at €75m.

The most recent on this scale was Ray Grehan's €62m paid for 6.5 acres in Howth in 2007 - and no residential site has exceeded €100m since Mr Grehan spent €171.5m on the two-acre UCD Veterinary College site in Ballsbridge in 2005. It was sold on again in 2013 for €22.5m, a price cut of 87pc.

The Cush

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/construction/cairn-homes-secures-50m-loan-for-montrose-site-purchase-1.3144013

Homebuilder Cairn Homes said on Wednesday it has signed a €50m term loan facility with development finance business Activate Capital.

The new facility has a two-year term and will be secured by a charge over the 8.6 acre RTE Montrose site, which Cairn agreed to acquire on June 13 for €107.5 million.

The Cush

The Cush wrote: »

RTÉ submitted a planning application in early May to Dublin City Council for the relocation of the Fair City set to a new location on campue

http://www.dublincity.ie/swiftlg/apas/run/WPHAPPDETAIL.DisplayUrl?theApnID=2874/17

Permission granted with conditions (selected below). Decision open to appeal to An Bord Pleanála.

2. The use of the production set shall be confined to normal working hours between the hours of 8 am and 6pm Monday through Friday and 0800 to 1300 on Saturdays.

Reason: In the interests of the proper planning and sustainable development of the area and residential amenity.

3. The use of the set for two nights a weeks shall cease after 3 years from the date of this permission so that a full assesement can be made of its impact and shall revert to the previous permitted two nights a month, unless prior to the end of the period, planning permission has been granted for this use for a further period.

Reason: To allow for a full assessement to be made of its impact on the residential properties adjoining it.

4. The entire production set shall be removed from site within five years of the grant of permission, unless before that time a further permission is granted by the Planning Authority or by An Bord Pleanala on appeal.

Reason: To enable the Planning Authority to monitor this temporary development and its impact on the amenities of the area.

5. (a) The site and building works required to implement the development shall only be carried out between the hours of:

Mondays to Fridays - 7.00am to 6.00pm
Saturday - 8.00 a.m. to 2.00pm
Sundays and Public Holidays - No activity on site.

(b) Deviation from these times will only be allowed in exceptional circumstances where prior written approval has been received from Dublin City Council. Such approval may be given subject to conditions pertaining to the particular circumstances being set by Dublin City Council.

Reason: In order to safeguard the amenities of adjoining residential occupiers.

Tender for the construction of the new Fair City outdoor set was published at the end of April - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=103387598

The Cush

The Cush wrote: »

Not mentioned anywhere that I could see was the future of Chief Digital Officer Múirne Laffan considering her area will disappear into new Content and Channels, Audiences and Marketing divisions.

The Cush wrote: »

The question about Chief Digital Officer Múirne Laffan is answered in a small piece in today's Sunday Indo business section (print edition) by Samantha McCaughren

In other broadcasting news, RTE revealed a massive re-jig which will see some changes at executive board level. There will no longer be a seat at the top table for the role of chief digital officer, which is held by Múirne Laffan. Instead two new positions will join the executive board from October - the head of channels, audiences and marketing; and head of operations and production services. An RTE spokesman said Laffan continues to hold a key role in the organisation and is "leading key projects that are vital for RTE's future and are in keeping with the new vision."

Announced today, Múirne Laffan is leaving RTÉ on August 11th and the position of Chief Digital Officer is being stood down. Not surprising I guess considering her demotion from the board, no doubt with a generous redundancy package.

http://www.irishtimes.com/business/media-and-marketing/rt%C3%A9-stands-down-chief-digital-officer-role-as-m%C3%BAirne-laffan-set-to-leave-1.3153536

“RTÉ is on a journey of transformation and is now on the cusp of integrating digital activities into all content and production pillars. It is the right time to do this, and also the right time for me to explore new opportunities and to bring my knowledge and experience to other businesses. I believe that with Ireland ever more a key player in the global digital ecosystem, the time is now,” Ms Laffan said.

The Cush

Tender for the Fair City Outdoor Set Dressing, Landscaping and Electrical Work was published earlier today - https://irl.eu-supply.com/app/rfq/publicpurchase_frameset.asp?PID=115826&B=ETENDERS_SIMPLE&PS=1&PP=ctm/Supplier/publictenders

Short description
17P044 - Fair City Outdoor Set Dressing, Landscaping and Electrical Work

Detailed description
RTÉ is seeking suitably qualified companies to dress the sets of the Fair City outdoor lot.

Tender for the construction of the new Fair City outdoor set was published previously - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=103387598

The Cush

The following was included in the 2016 Annual Report, anyone know what the intangible asset was? World Cup 2018 rights??? Maybe we'll have to wait for the 2017 report.

In January 2017 RTE disposed of an intangible asset, realising a gain of €5 million for the Group.

https://static.rasset.ie/documents/about/rte-annual-report-2016.pdf [p.163]

The Cush

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/rte-now-told-that-staff-redundancy-scheme-is-too-generous-35981120.html
http://www.independent.ie/business/media/department-queries-rte-plans-for-16m-redundancy-scheme-35980629.html

Some details of RTÉ's proposed redundancy scheme were published in the Sunday Indo yesterday.

- RTE is planning to offer between four and six weeks of redundancy pay for each year of service, including statutory redundancy pay, depending on length of service
- it will be capped at two years' pay
- average payouts likely to be around €80,000, deals for the best-paid will run well into six figures
- estimated cost €16m

Details of the Voluntary Exit Programme are due to be presented to staff by the end of August.

The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, as a "shareholder", has expressed concerns to RTÉ that the redundancy scheme is overly generous in its current form. The Dept. would prefer an offer of three to five weeks per year of service.

RTÉ does not need approval for the scheme and will make the final decision but the department has given its observations.

It is understood that RTE believes it needs to make a generous offer to employees in order to achieve that scale of redundancies it is seeking. It has emphasised to the department that the scheme is less generous that the previous scheme, which ended in 2012.
[...]
This will require 200 redundancies and the plan will be tailored to appeal to some of the longer serving and better paid

"It has to be generous, otherwise people won't go," said one source.

The Cush

The Cush wrote: »

Permission granted with conditions (selected below). Decision open to appeal to An Bord Pleanála.

Fair City set relocation planning permission appealed to An Bord Pleanála. Decision by 30 Nov.

http://www.pleanala.ie/casenum/248946.htm
http://www.dublincity.ie/swiftlg/apas/run/WPHAPPDETAIL.DisplayUrl?theApnID=2874/17


An Bord Pleanála appeal document - http://www.dublincity.ie/AnitePublicDocs/00640881.pdf

Jesus Wept

Would love an auld redundancy payment.

Elmo

To be honest it goes from bad to worse.

Surely RTÉ knew that it would have to rehouse Fair City once the sale was agree and should have taking soundings from the residents. RTÉ had a similar problem with the German Ambassador a number of years ago.

However I am sorry but your homes are built around a purpose built broadcaster, what do you expect them to be doing.

As for the redundancy payment, clearly OTT, and doesn't make much sense, how does RTÉ expect to make money when it makes cuts and also pays out heavily to staff to leave.

The Cush

The Cush wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/rte-now-told-that-staff-redundancy-scheme-is-too-generous-35981120.html
http://www.independent.ie/business/media/department-queries-rte-plans-for-16m-redundancy-scheme-35980629.html

Some details of RTÉ's proposed redundancy scheme were published in the Sunday Indo yesterday.

- RTE is planning to offer between four and six weeks of redundancy pay for each year of service, including statutory redundancy pay, depending on length of service
- it will be capped at two years' pay
- average payouts likely to be around €80,000, deals for the best-paid will run well into six figures
- estimated cost €16m

Details of the Voluntary Exit Programme are due to be presented to staff by the end of August.

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/exit-deal-on-offer-to-rt-staff-is-not-as-generous-as-last-time-36047787.html

- voluntary redundancy scheme to shed 250 staff is set to open next month
- terms of the severance scheme will be unveiled within weeks

Unions claimed RTÉ staff are frustrated at hold ups in the scheme that was due to open to applications this summer, but is now not expected until next month.

They said the broadcaster set an initial deadline in July to open the scheme, with a closing date in September.
[...]
"While RTÉ is meaningfully consulting with us at the moment, we are at a point where we would like to get to some conclusion so we can inform our members of what exactly is expected of them," Siptu organiser Graham Macken said.

"There is an element of frustration about the information coming forward."

Elmo

The Cush wrote: »

http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/exit-deal-on-offer-to-rt-staff-is-not-as-generous-as-last-time-36047787.html

- voluntary redundancy scheme to shed 250 staff is set to open next month
- terms of the severance scheme will be unveiled within weeks

Have they upped the number from 200 to 250?

Elmo

Frances Abeton, Director of Operations and Production Services and Adrian Lynch, Director of Audience, Channels and Marketing will take up their roles in the coming weeks.

Always surprised that Dermot Horan is always the sub-Executive anytime they need someone to step in.

The Cush

The new RTÉ Executive Board

Dee Forbes: Director General
John Williams: Director of News and Current Affairs
Jim Jennings: Director of Content
Breda O'Keeffe: Chief Financial Officer
Willie O'Reilly: Director of Commercial
Brian Dalton: Director of Corporate Affairs
Richard Waghorn: Director of Transformation and Technology
Eimear Cusack: Director of Human Resources
Frances Abeton: Director of Operations and Production Services
Adrian Lynch: Director of Audience, Channels & Marketing

http://www.rte.ie/about/en/press-office/press-releases/2017/0828/900512-appointments-complete-rte-executive-board/

Maysa07

Elmo wrote: »

Have they upped the number from 200 to 250?

Well the DG did say over 200 is the target. She herself never put an exact number on it.
Bottom line, RTE need to cut number to make it sustainable going forward. It's been sinking financially for the last few years with high staff numbers.

Elmo

Maysa07 wrote: »

Elmo wrote: »

Have they upped the number from 200 to 250?

Well the DG did say over 200 is the target. She herself never put an exact number on it.
Bottom line, RTE need to cut number to make it sustainable going forward. It's been sinking financially for the last few years with high staff numbers.

True not that the DG could look at expenses or perhaps add a person to her executive, really top management never seem to let look at themselves.

The Cush

- Management are due to address staff this afternoon

- RTÉ to offer improved redundancy terms up to 300 staff, between redundancy and early retirement, when it announces a cost-cutting programme to staff today
- Go-ahead given by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform and the Department of Communications for the scheme
- It will cost the broadcaster up to €25m in severance pay

- Staff with at least 10 years at the organisation will be offered four weeks’ pay per year of service, as well as the statutory entitlement of two weeks pay per year. The total of six weeks per year, capped at two years’ salary
- Staff with less than 10 years’ service will be offered two weeks’ pay per year in addition to statutory redundancy pay, equalling four weeks’ pay per year, again capped at two years’ salary
- Staff will be given up to eight weeks to consider the package

- At meeting this afternoon, employees will also be briefed on internal restructuring at the broadcaster
- Further meetings with be held with staff to brief them on extensive restructuring or slimlining of operations

https://www.rte.ie/news/2017/0831/901178-rte-redundancies/
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/rt%C3%A9-to-offer-improved-redundancy-terms-to-300-staff-1.3203914

"It's expected that a lot of decisions regarding staff, restructuring and physical changes around Montrose will be announced today," said the source.

The package is primarily aimed at older employees but, if not enough apply, it will be offered to younger staff.

Director general Dee Forbes is expected to address staff at today's meeting.

In a statement earlier this week, she said: "We have been working hard on the development of RTE's new five-year strategy, a new organisational structure, and preparing for the launch of a new voluntary exit programme and early retirement scheme.

"There will also be further tailored sessions, with more detail on some of the new structures and areas. I will issue details with times and locations as soon as possible."

http://www.herald.ie/news/staff-braced-for-200-job-losses-as-rte-unveils-25m-redundancy-deal-36086104.html

Staff Invitation

As you know, as part of the ongoing review of the organisation, we have been working hard across the summer on the development of RTÉ’s new five-year strategy, a new organisational structure, and preparing for the launch of a new Voluntary Exit Programme and early retirement scheme. I’d like to invite you all to join me and members of the Executive for an update in Studio 4 at 3pm this Thursday 31st August. The update will also be available via RF.

There will also be further tailored sessions, with more detail on some of the new structures and areas. I will issue details with times and locations as soon as possible.

I look forward to seeing you then.

Thanks,
Dee

The Cush

http://www.superannrte.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5860:director-general-update&catid=31&Itemid=104

Creche

Construction of the new RTÉ Crèche at Montrose House has progressed significantly and, with internal works nearing completion, we expect the construction to be fully complete in October. In addition RTÉ has taken the opportunity to carry out restoration works on the external facade and windows; these works will contribute greatly to the conservation of Montrose House.

New Entrance Road

A contractor has been appointed to work on the new site entrance. Works will commence in the coming weeks and are expected to be complete early in the New Year. There will be some disruption to our internal traffic flows, however a traffic management plan will be in operation to minimise disruption. A new parking area between the Radio Centre and the multi-storey car park will mitigate any spaces lost due to the new entrance works.

All assigned and reserved spaces are being permanently removed on August 31st, including those in the Stage 7 underground car park, to further offset any disruption.

Fair City Relocation

Dublin City Council has granted full planning permission for the relocation of the Fair City lot, however this decision has been appealed to An Bord Pleanala. RTÉ are currently working through this process with a likely decision due in early December. No construction can or will occur until the decision is delivered.

Elmo

I don't really get it all. RTE went to sleep in 2017. I don't understand how a staff of 2000 requires them to cut regular services from news and current affairs on TV to Daytime TV from Nationwide to RTEjr continuity.