Earlier this month, producers and script writers for Fair City stayed in the Killiney Hotel for a two-day "intensive story conference" subsidized by RTÉ.

During their stay, staff were provided with a breakfast, lunch and dinner at the Killiney Castle Hotel, where prices range from €209 to €364 a night.

The south-Dublin hotel is located in Donnybrook, roughly a 20-minute drive from RTÉ's Montrose campus.

This development follows a recent controversy regarding the broadcaster's expenditure, spurned by a misreport of star presenter Ryan Tubridy's annual earnings In June; wherein the RTÉ failed to properly disclose €345,000 of payments to him between 2017 and 2022.

The Irish Independent reports that the national broadcaster has defended the decision to pay for the hotel stay.

The day after the conference, RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst announced that there would be a freeze on recruitment and all discretionary spending, due to the precarious financial situation at RTÉ