Here - RTÉ

ANNUAL REPORT & GROUP FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 2008
23 Financial Commitments and Contingencies (continued)
(c) Operating Lease Commitments
Gross operating leases, principally in respect of motor vehicles, payable in the future in respect of leases expiring:
Group
RTÉ
2008 2007 2008 2007
€’000 €’000 €’000 €’000
Within one year 52 101 34 73
Within two to five years 7 45 7 41
59 146 41 114
24 Related Party Transactions
RTÉ is a statutory corporation, established under the Broadcasting Authority Act, 1960. The members of the RTÉ Authority are
appointed by the Government.
The Group provides advertising and other similar services, and purchases goods and services, in the ordinary course of its business to/from
Government departments and to entities controlled by the Irish Government. An Post collects the Television Licence Fee on behalf of the
Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources (DCENR).
For the purposes of the disclosure requirements of IAS 24 the term “key management personnel” (i.e. those persons having authority
and responsibility for planning, directing and controlling the activities of the company) comprises the RTÉ Authority, the Director-General,
the Heads of the Integrated Business Divisions and of the principal corporate functions, including all of the team reporting directly to the
Director-General. The total amount of remuneration paid to key management personnel was €4.119 million (2007 €4.428 million) the
majority of which comprises short term employee benefits.
At 31 December 2008, the total payables to RTÉ subsidiary undertakings was €43.93 million (2007: €40.19 million).
25 Prior Year Adjustment
Certain individuals are entitled to receive a free television licence under the DSFA Household Benefits Package Scheme. The Department
of Social and Family Affairs (DSFA) makes monthly payments to DCENR in respect of the value of these licences. In turn, these amounts
form part of the non-repayable “grant in aid” from DCENR to RTÉ.
The administration of the issuance of free licences and the method by which the licences were valued changed with effect from
1 August 2004. Following the implementation of this change, a dispute arose between DCENR and DSFA regarding the amount
due from DSFA in respect of licences issued in 2004 and recognised in income by RTÉ in the same year. In 2005, RTÉ recorded a
provision for impairment of €3.9 million in respect of the amounts in dispute.
In November 2008, DCENR negotiated an agreement with DSFA in full and final settlement of the outstanding amounts owing from
DSFA amounting to €2.0 million.
As part of this agreement, DCENR also agreed to retrospectively alter the basis by which Licence Fee income was historically
recognised by RTÉ with effect from 1 September 2004. In effect, this meant that the period end trade and other receivables balance
from 2005 to 2007 did not fairly reflect the amounts outstanding at the financial year end notwithstanding that there was minimum
impact on the income statement.
In line with IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors, this change in the basis of recognition of Licence
Fee income has been accounted for as a retrospective change in accounting policy and the comparative financial statements for 2007
have been restated.
The opening retained earnings for 2007 have been reduced by €3.4m with a corresponding adjustment to the period-end trade and
other receivables at 31 December 2007 to reflect the appropriate receivable balance at that time.
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