8am News Bulletin

And the news is read now by Kate Carolan. Members of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation will hold lunchtime protests today at hospitals across the country over delays in agreeing a new public sector pay deal. It comes ahead of planned strikes by public sector workers in the next fortnight. Our work and technology correspondent, Brian O'Donovan, reports.

The Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation said its members will be protesting today over cost of living measures and the impact it's having on staffing. Since last week, workers across the public sector have been engaging in industrial action in the form of a work to rule ahead of planned strikes on the 14th and 21st of October. Unions have accused the government of failing to make meaningful commitments on pay following the expiration of the last public sector pay deal at the end of June. On Tuesday, the government announced that funding of 1.2 billion euro has been allocated in the budget for a public sector pay deal. Minister for Public Expenditure, Jack Chambers, called on unions to engage in talks, but they responded by saying that the budget allocation was not enough to resolve the current pay dispute.

Coimisiún na Meán has described as disappointing the budget announcement that RTE's funding is to be cut by 20 million euro. Yesterday, the Minister for Media, Patrick O'Donovan, said the broadcaster would receive less funding than envisaged in Budget 2027 because of his dissatisfaction with what he called RTE's progress in implementing promised reforms. Kevin O'Mahony reports.

In a statement last night, media regulator Coimisiún na Meán said the shortfall meant RTE would not receive the level of funding previously outlined in government plans. It comes after RTE's Director General, Kevin Bacher, said he was shocked and dismayed by the decision. Mr. Bacher said RTE had already taken big decisions around investment outside of Dublin and the commissioning of programs in sport and drama based on the assumption it would receive 260 million euro in the budget. The chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Media, Alan Kelly, has said Minister Patrick O'Donovan and the RTE Director General are approaching a head-on collision at a very fast speed. Deputy Kelly said the tone and content of Mr. Bacher's email to staff was the strongest he had seen from a director general or chief executive of a state body referring to a minister. He said it was quite obvious that RTE was going to have a funding issue in the next year.

On this program, the Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Sean Cannie, said the agreement between RTE and the government was not only about money, it was about targets and performance. He said he believed there would be further discussion between Minister O'Donovan and RTE.

RTE's own commitment on voluntary agendas have been less than what was expected. Um, and so therefore, I think there is, there is work to be done here. There is discussions to be had. And I think, um, I, I do believe that, uh, what we are doing is making sure that public money, uh, is being spent in the right way and also to make sure that when you are giving money and you have an agreement, there's