Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
RTÉ BOARD CHAIR Siún Ní Raghallaigh’s resignation and the circumstances surrounding it have created more questions about governance at the RTÉ and communication between the broadcaster and Media Minister Catherine Martin.
The controversies at the national broadcaster have been rolling for the last eight months, and in recent weeks there’s been a renewed focus on the level of exit packages given to former RTÉ executives.
The latest development is the resignation of Siún Ní Raghallaigh, who was the Chair of the RTÉ Board up until last night, and who quit after Minister Martin failed to express confidence in her when questioned last night.
Here’s an explainer of the events that led up to Ní Raghallaigh’s resignation in the early hours of the morning and the fallout for RTÉ and the government today.
The catalyst of the latest debacle was RTÉ’s recent handling of exit packages for executives who have left the organisation.
Oireachtas committee hearings last year identified that former Chief Financial Officer Breda O’Keeffe had left in 2020 under a voluntary exit scheme – but other executives said at the hearings they were not aware of the details of the package.
An external review by McCann Fitzgerald LLP into RTÉ’s voluntary exit schemes identified that more than 250 applications were made under a 2017 scheme, of which 176 were successful. However, O’Keeffe’s was unusual in that it was the “only one” that was not considered and approved by the RTÉ executive board.
RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst revealed last week that the package was worth €450,000.
It has also emerged that exit packages were paid to RTÉ’s former Director of Strategy Rory Coveney, who oversaw the €2.2 million loss-making Toy Show The Musical and resigned last summer, and to Richard Collins, O’Keeffe’s successor as CFO. It is not publicly known how much either was paid.
As the Cabinet minister with responsibility for media, Catherine Martin has been the face of the government in dealings with RTÉ since the scandals first emerged last summer.
The minister said yesterday that she had been told twice that Ní Raghallaigh did not know about the details of Richard Collins’ exit package, but had learned in the course of the day that the Chair was in fact aware of them.
Minister Martin gave an interview to RTÉ’s Prime Time last night in which she said that she was repeatedly “misinformed” by the chair on whether the board signed off on the exit packages.
The minister said that Ní Raghallaigh assured her on Monday and Wednesday that the board had no involvement in approving exit payments made to executives, but that yesterday morning, she was informed that the RTÉ board did play a role in signing off on Collins’s package.
His exit package went before the RTÉ remuneration board, which is chaired by Ní Raghallaigh.
"Have you lost confidence in the chair of the RTÉ Board?"
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) February 22, 2024
"I'm deeply disappointed..." Media Minister Catherine Martin tells @MiriamOCal, as she reveals she was misinformed about the role of the board in the approval of a key recent exit package.#rtept | @RTENews pic.twitter.com/16kf8CrGDf
However, RTÉ has pushed back and said that Ní Raghaillaigh told the Department of Media about the process surrounding Collins’ exit from the broadcaster.
In a statement this morning, RTÉ said: “The Director-General and the former Chair met with the Minister for over three hours this week. A large volume of issues were addressed and discussed, and within that context some confusion arose regarding a question from the Minister to the Chair about the approval by the RTÉ Board of the exit of former CFO Richard Collins.
“The Chair had in fact informed the Department about the process which led to Richard Collins’ departure from RTÉ on October 10th, the day after it was approved at the Remuneration Committee which has delegated powers from the Board. This detail was taken as read although it seems now that it shouldn’t have been.
“After checking the minutes of the Remuneration Committee, the Chair moved swiftly to correct this detail with department officials on Thursday, and remind them that the correct process had been followed, and that the Chair had previously informed the Department of same.”
In the Prime Time interview last night, Minister Martin was asked whether she had confidence in Ní Raghaillaigh as Chair of the RTÉ Board.
The media minister stopped short of saying she had lost confidence in the Chair, but refused to say that she did have confidence – instead insisting that she had asked Ní Raghallaigh to meet her early in the morning today.
Ní Raghaillaigh would be given the opportunity to explain her side of events, Martin said.
Martin said she was “deeply disappointed” in the situation and that her direct line of communication to RTÉ has “always been” the chair.
At ten to one in the early hours of this morning, Siún Ní Raghallaigh released a statement announcing that she was handing in her resignation.
After Catherine Martin’s comments on Prime Time, Ní Raghallaigh said it was “abundantly clear” that she no longer had the confidence of the minister.
“As such, my position is no longer tenable,” she said.
In the statement, Ní Raghallaigh gave an account of the events that had transpired.
“I said that I was aware of them [the exit packages], but they had not come before the full board. However, I neglected to recollect that Richard Collins’ exit package did go before the renumeration committee,” she said.
“This was not an intentional misrepresentation, and I subsequently contacted the Department to clarify the details and remind them that I had previously appraised them of the matter in October.”
Ní Raghallaigh said Kevin Bakhurst had brought Coveney’s exit package to her attention and Collins’ exit package “was brought to and approved by the remuneration committee of the board of RTÉ” in October.
The RTÉ board is due to hold an emergency meeting this afternoon following Ní Raghallaigh’s resignation.
Minister Martin has been subject to criticism and is facing pressure over how she handled the situation.
The Labour Party have said her position as Media Minister is “increasingly untenable”, while the Social Democrats say she has “serious questions to answer”.
Social Democrats Leader Holly Cairns said Martin “showed a lamentable lack of judgement in agreeing to proceed” with the interview before meeting Ní Raghallaigh to clarify certain details.
That led to the situation that Sinn Féin TD Brian Stanley, chairperson of the Public Accounts Committee, described as the minister “effectively” sacking Ní Raghallaigh on live television by refusing to say she had confidence in her.
However, both the Taoiseach and Tánaiste have indicated their support for Catherine Martin.
Spokesperson for Taoiseach says he has full confidence in Media Minister Catherine Martin.
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) February 23, 2024
Meanwhile the Tanaiste has also expressed confidence in the minister stating the overriding priority now is to stabilise the situation in RTÉ.
Cabinet colleages Minister Helen McEntee and Minister Roderic O’Gorman have also defended her, with McEntee saying this morning that Martin handled the latest controversy “the best way possible”.
“She gave a commitment to do an interview and fulfilled that commitment. What she simply did last night was outline the facts as they happened throughout the week,” McEntee said.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Zero sympathy for any of these RTE snowflakes who throw taxpayer euros around like confetti .. prison sentences would be nice.
@Greg Power: She HAD the choice of meeting the minister but CHOSE not to and ran.
So she has access to the minister. Tells the minister face to face about one package but not the other one and goes through “official channel”. She was asked directly by the minister and said the board weren’t involved but now her recollection was wrong. Absolutely right she should go. Not a FFG supporter by any stretch but if a minister in any party asks a question fave to face and you don’t give the right details then you should be gone. RTE on an all out propaganda campaign this morning on their news about it. Replace everyone at board level in RTE who has been in situ for more than 6 months, put the budget under the control of the auditor and comptroller general and put a clause in contracts over 150k that their wage will be publicly reported as part of their contract. Enough of this.
@Gerard Smith: here here and remediate the insanely presenter wages. As much as Claire Byrne for example is a capable presenter, her wage should be halved! No role in media is worth that.
@Gerard Smith: exactly how can something so important as an exit package agreed by the board, slip her mind, when ur boss asks a question & ur not 100% sure u would normally say I WILL CHECK not no the board had nothing to do with it. It wasn’t brought to the board ??????
@Éanna o Sca: look at the wages in bbc and utv before you sack anybody
And they’re still sending out messages on radio saying what could happen to you if you don’t pay your TV licence….THE NECK
@Dixiediver: I had a TV licence inspector at my home last week. We had a polite conversation, before I sent him in his way. I didn’t think they would have the neck to have inspectors out during this fiasco
RTE is absolutely in tatters , The Minister for Communications that is responsible for RTE was never fit for a job in Government and has lost it completely now, and finally , the Government is in tatters and not capable of being in control of any affairs .we need a General Election ASAP .
@Eugene Comaskey: So everything will be wonderful with this change of Government,Dream on ,As for Catherine Martin very hard to do your Job with these RTE crew, Everything has to be dragged out of them & still not getting all the facts
@Eugene Comaskey: how has she lost it, she asked the chairman of the board a question, the chairman answered WRONG , it was asked a second time weeks later & the chairman answered THE BOARD HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH THE EXIT PACKAGE & what comes out last night the board approved the exit package & what did the chairman say in her resignation letter IT SLIPPED MY MIND ????? So Eugene how did the minister get it WRONG ????
@Mary Bermingham: The minister and her department were informed of this in October.. Square that one for me please.. ?
@Sheila McNulty: more foolish chat by Sheila
Watching the Irish Media Circling the Wagons is scary. Are we getting the real story from them on anything.
@thomas molloy: Zoom out from that idea and consider everything you know, The post-information age is not going well. Every second comment is a misunderstanding that is attached to an emotive response. Honesty the bigger picture is not great. Anyway, that’s maybe a bit heavy
Promote the ladies they said,it will lead to less corruption they said
@pauley870: Who are “they”? Or are you just a simple caveman.
@pauley870: Not atall.
Wasn’t it ‘promote the ladies – they too deserve a nose at the trough’?
Where is Deirdre ”Dee” Forbes…? Now Deirdre its time to make an appearance..Deirdre let’s be having ya..Deirdre
@Ciaran Kane: She has a sick note from her doctor. Probably sent he to the sun somewhere.
Well done, Catherine Martin, a minister with the bottle to act decisively and correctly
How has this turned into a bag on the Minister? What did people want her to do? Express confidence in someone she had no confidence in and was ready to fire? Then the headlines would have been “Minister fires person she expressed confidence in just 12 hours prior. What a flip-flop!”
@Darren McEneaney: How about actually doing something meaningful about RTE a long time ago?
And not wait until she has no option, and then do the least possible.
@Darren McEneaney: One of hundreds of flip flops now available from the Tass News Agency, sorry RTE our “State Broadcaster”.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: I don’t think I mentioned anything about that?
So say it plain, was the minister right in what she did here or should she have lied to the camera? Because that’s what people are making this current crisis into
@Darren McEneaney: What the minister did, the minister should have done long ago.
In spades.
@Darren McEneaney: RTE are still in the driving seat and calling all the shots even at this stage if the enquiry.
What the Minister did on RTÉ Prime Time was wrong, wrong, wrong – totally unprofessional.
@James D: How so? Please feel free to go into detail
@James D: The Minster was a teacher until 2016, so has no clue about this sector, but then it’s the same for all of them. We put them on, generation after generation
@James D: I would not be a fan of the Greens but Catherine Martin had the courage on Prime Time to spell it out as it was great to see, most of them talk waffle & don’t spell it out so fair play to her
NO Minister, NO TD Worth a Vote can Defend the TV Tax!!! Enough IS More than Enough!!! Time for Subscription!!! Let them stand on their own.
If this kind of scant regard to tax payers money if rife in RTE you can be damn sure it’s equally as bad in other state/semi state and public bodies. As for government, it’s endemic, like pigs at a trough, self serving, lacking accountability and ability and citizens of this country are paying the price in every way possible.
@Brian Tierney: RTE is in a unique position, unlike the other semi-states.
Those others have to provide a real product, or they have no income.
RTE has a guaranteed income no matter what dross – to borrow a term from another commentator here recently – it produces.
And so it produces that dross.
And with such a guaranteed income stream, what matter any standards.
This is dragging on since last June and the public still don’t have a clear picture about what’s happened, even with all the staff changes. It’s time to call a halt and set up a new public broadcasting company with proper oversight and changes in existing work practices. It will mean a lot of the existing staff will need to be let go but there is no other option at this stage as trust is gone and won’t be coming back.
@The next small thing: the ones worth it with integrity can be re-hired.
It’s going to be ok we will find a job for all of them sure haven’t we found another one for Tony COVID on 250000 plus a year
@Pat Clancy: Good luck to him
@Sheila McNulty: and you’re paying for it you numpty
Just cull it altogether – this fiasco is costing me and you a fortune. Put the cash into improving the roads..how many is been killed already this year? Give the money to our educated young people so they can return home to fill
Massive gaps in construction, medical roles and education.
FFG appointed board ,enough said and Simon Coveneys brother in the middle of them, public broadcasting ya right!
The source of RTEs systemic generational problems?… A person who’s been there for a year, a nice cover I suppose.
TV licences are dead in the water now ha
Id like to thank Minister Martin for her commitment to public service and her integrity especially in this latest saga.Dont forget to shut the door on your way out.
Whilst this topic cannot be ignored I am intrigued that our media outlets are not giving far more attention to the debacle in relation to the Childrens’ Hospital saga that is far more serious and important to the country. A project that successive governments have been grappling with and will cost more than 300% of the original estimate and running many years beyond the allotted time. Yet we’ve had no forensic accountants employed to investigate, we’ve had no Dáil committee interrogation of the Health Department and we’ve had no continuous media bombardment of the ministers or the gurus responsible for overseeing the project and we’ve certainly had no resignation. Why is that?? And why is there such a furore about RTE shenanigans, is this a deliberate policy of deflection???
Well done Minister Martin.
Jobs for the boys and girls of the nieces and nephews, friends and anyone who can be brought in on the money train, nothing new there, they have all been doing it for years, we need a revolution like in France to stop this crapp for a few tens of years…
All this is great news for the Government , it takes the spotlight away from them and the Billions that is being wasted everywhere else like rural broadband ,childrens hospital ,HSE , tranport etc.etc
I agree the Chair had to go. I saw from a few weeks ago that she was evading questions.
In fact, i think there has to be a complete Board clearout. One bad apple can tarnish the full barrell and even though the Chair is gone, her legacy remains and the culture in the Board needs a complete overhaul. A complete change will do it.
All companies that accept public money have to be answerable for their actions. And that includes all executives, even when their gone
Board positions are supposed to be cushy. They are part time positions that you do while doing your day job.
Now Siun should have realized this was going to be a sh*t show before she agreed to do it.
She’s been at the top of Irish media for 30 years through TG4, ikandi productions, Ardmore and troy studios etc.
She is going to go off into retirement and not even look back at this mess.
Good luck to Catherine in finding someone to sit on that board.
Bye bye fine gale tv
I wonder how much “Gaybo”, got ??????
A case of the Minister doing here job and the Chair not doing theirs. But the Chair then takes the std issue Dee Forbes defence and quits to avoid scrutiny.
That said the Chair should NOT have resigned, she should have met the Minister irrespective of Primetime interview and made her case – all she did was behave like a petulant child instead of an adult.
This is the fourth article on the same topic with different headlines with 80% of the same copy. Lazy.
Honest question, I really don’t know. Is this minister Martin in any way related to minister Martin snr??
On mature recollection, I didn’t have the full report, I wasn’t there, didn’t do it, can’t prove it bullshit answers from the top. Epidemic loss of memory- did I leave anything out apart from the amount of payouts? On and on it goes…………….
have your say