LAST UPDATE | 24 Jun 2023
MINISTER FOR ARTS and Media Catherine Martin has announced an external review of governance and culture at RTÉ following the Ryan Tubridy payment scandal.
Martin met with the Chair of the RTÉ Board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, today to discuss the fact that RTÉ’s highest paid star Ryan Tubridy earned an extra €345,000 over the course of over six years than RTÉ had previously disclosed.
The minister said that an external review commissioned by RTÉ to review the remuneration of its top 10 highest paid presenters will be concluded within two weeks.
However she has also announced that there will be an external review of governance and culture at RTÉ.
“The purpose of this review will be to determine what fundamental or systemic issues need to be addressed, including the adequacy of internal controls,” she said.
“While as Minister I cannot get involved in the day to day operation of RTÉ, I do need assurance that the governance and culture is fit for purpose.”
“Public trust in RTÉ must be rebuilt,” she continued.
“Therefore, a Government decision on the future funding model for public service broadcasting has been paused until such time as this review is complete and the findings considered.”
“My officials will develop Terms of Reference in this regard over the coming week, and I will expect the full co-operation of the RTÉ Board and senior executives in engaging with this review and in engaging with Oireachtas Committees in the coming period.”
Emerging from the meeting in Dublin, Ní Raghalliagh described the discussions as “very constructive”.
In a statement issued on behalf of the board, Ní Raghallaigh said:
“Our priority is to ensure that public trust in corporate governance at RTÉ is restored. We take this responsibility very seriously. We will to ensure that these issues are rigorously examined, so that full confidence in Ireland’s independent, public service broadcaster can be rebuilt.”
“Separately, we have already put a number of immediate steps in place to ensure that there is no recurrence of these matters, and we will also work to complete the second Grant Thornton report as quickly as possible.
“On behalf of the Board of RTÉ, I want to apologise again to the public for this breach of trust, and also to the staff of RTÉ who work so hard on a daily basis to serve the public.”
RTÉ announced yesterday that it would republish the remunerations paid to Tubridy since 2017 in order to “correct the record”.
The broadcaster also stated that the Barter Account used to make payments to Tubridy will be placed within the control of the Finance function and that specific controls will be put in place to the operation of that account.
The Remuneration Committee of the Board will also be given full oversight and approval of the terms of contracts relating to the top 10 most highly paid on air presenters.
Until these processes are complete there will be a “pausing of all new material on air presenter contracts”, RTÉ stated.
Yesterday, the director general of RTÉ Dee Forbes was suspended and the National Union of Journalists called for a wide independent inquiry into the broadcaster’s corporate governance.
Later that evening, RTÉ interim deputy director general Adrian Lynch said a process is under way, and he expects it to be completed within days rather than weeks.
Tubridy has “apologised unreservedly” for not asking questions when RTE published incorrect figures for his earnings.
Tubridy said he will not be presenting his daily radio show next week.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has expressed his concern at what he said appears to have been a “serious breach of trust and truth” between RTÉ and the Government and the people.
“The Government considers it essential that we have the highest standards of governance, accountability and transparency from RTÉ and will consider what further action may be required,” he said.
“All of the matters involved will have to be examined and, perhaps, remedial steps taken to restore trust and confidence.”
Former press ombudsman and previous head of broadcast compliance in RTÉ, Peter Feeney, told RTÉ’s Saturday with Colm Ó Mongáin that while RTÉ had been through crises before, this one was “particularly bad”.
“It’s inconceivable that a deal such as has now been discovered, could have taken place without one or more of the RTÉ executive board knowing about it. I find it hard to believe could only be one person,” he said.
Feeney added that he served as Freedom of Information officer for RTÉ for 20 years and would release pay details of RTÉ’s highest earners to newspapers each year.
“I just took it absolutely for granted that the figures that were being released are the accurate figures. And I’m quite flabbergasted to discover that it’s possible the figures that were being released were inaccurate.”
“It would appear that RTÉ management didn’t want to acknowledge that the pay cut being taken by the top earning presenter wasn’t as low as they wanted so they disguised it.”
RTÉ’s former Midlands Correspondent, Ciarán Mullooly, who worked for the broadcaster for 27 years said that he was “disgusted” with this week’s revelations.
“When I think of the basic studio & crewing needs & the projects we sought support for – only to be told there was no cash there to meet it – I feel very bitter. We were all conned,” he tweeted this morning.
With reporting from PA
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