RTÉ has scaled back controversial plans to spend €240,000 on a photographer to take still images on the set of Fair City in a bid to slash costs in the midst of a financial crisis at the national broadcaster.
Earlier this year, RTÉ sought tenders for a €240,000 contract to take a minimum of 16 photos a week on the set of the Irish soap. The photographer was required to be on set around 20 hours a week, and the contract was for four years.
Fine Gael Senator Michael Carrigy criticised the move as "quite ridiculous" against a backdrop of cost-cutting measures and a recruitment freeze in September, when Director General Kevin Bakhurst appeared before an Oireachtas committee.
The lucrative contract was defended by RTÉ at the time, with Fair City’s executive producer, Brigie de Courcy, stating: "I cannot overstate the importance of high quality, highly curated photography in promoting [the show]."
However, the broadcaster has now scaled back its plans for photography on the set of the soap. The previous €240,000 tender has been scrapped and replaced with a more modest contract worth €50,000 on offer.
The new contract reduces the number of images required each week from 16 to 12, and appears to include additional programmes in the deal apart from Fair City. The duration of the contract has also been slashed from four years to just 12 months.
A spokeswoman for RTÉ explained that photography requirements had been reduced as part of cost-cutting measures, and the estimated value of the contract had been lowered accordingly to €50,000.
"This is a new tender for photography services for RTÉ which includes Fair City. Photography requirements have been reduced in line with the drive to deliver cost savings," she said.
It represents a departure from the broadcaster’s previous position, in which it staunchly defended the expenditure and emphasised the importance of ensuring quality photography on the set.
"Popular soaps, such as Fair City, with multiple characters and multiple unfolding storylines have a sustained need for high quality imagery across the year," said a spokesperson in September.
"This imagery is then used across a variety of media outlets to help drive audiences to the show as viewers can now decide ‘what to watch’ based on the promotional image that appears on their platform."
Brigie de Courcy said: "It is vital to have a skilled photographer to capture, in single frames, moments of drama that will intrigue our regular audience, and bring new viewers to Fair City."
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