RTÉ has been hit with 29 separate sets of legal proceedings for defamation over the past six years with a sharp uptick in cases so far this year.
The cases have cost the broadcaster more than €4.7m — or an average of around €160,000 each — although not all the cases have yet been closed and costs are likely to rise still further.
RTÉ said it would not be possible to say how often they were threatened with a defamation claim but could provide data on when legal proceedings were actually issued.
The state broadcaster said in 2017, there had been eight cases, four the following year, and another five cases in 2019, according to records released under FOI.
In 2020, there were seven cases, and just one in 2021. However, the number of defamation proceedings has bounced back with four already in the first five months of this year.
That includes a case taken by Sinn Féin president Mary Lou McDonald following remarks made on RTÉ radio about historic abuse cases earlier this year.
The public service broadcaster said the cases also included proceedings where the cases were initiated against RTÉ, but potential liability would lie with a third party, for example an independent production company with their own insurance.
Total costs of almost €5m
They said total costs paid out as part of cases dealt with were €4.734m over the past six years, which could include costs related to more historic cases.
However, they declined to provide a yearly breakdown saying it could potentially identify individual cases or settlements and that it was not possible to break it down between legal fees and damages.
An information note said: “Some cases are settled with separate figures for damages and costs while others are settled for an ‘all in’ figure.
"The figure provided does not include any insurance refunds provided by RTÉ’s insurers.”
Separately, RTÉ said they had received eight other personal injury claims over the past two years, two in 2020 and a further six last year.
Five of these were described as “falls, slips, trips” type of claims and three more were stress or trauma related, according to the data.
They said no payments were made in 2020 on foot of such claims and that a single payment of €2,140 was made last year in a case that is still ongoing.
There were no damages and/or costs paid by RTÉ in respect of the two years as such sums are covered by our insurers.
A spokesman said that RTÉ — like all other media organisations in Ireland — operates in one of the “most restrictive and challenging legal regimes in the world” where defamation pay-outs were so high that some people engage in libel tourism to make claims in Dublin.
He said: “All RTÉ journalists and programme makers engage in ongoing training regarding media law and related matters.
"RTÉ has also put in place editorial controls to minimise risk to our output in these areas.
“It needs to be noted that damages in defamation actions are a multiple of those awarded in personal injuries actions which the Government has already sought to reform.”
The spokesman said legal costs can also be particularly high and that the introduction of a serious harm test in defamation cases and/or a requirement that claimants prove they’ve actually been defamed would ensure a more effective balance between freedom of expression and the right to a good name.
