MEDIA MINISTER CATHERINE Martin says she’s had a “positive” first meeting with the new chair of the RTÉ board.

Terence O’Rourke took over the role from Siún Ní Raghallaigh, who resigned last month hours after Minister Martin failed to express confidence in her.

In a statement this evening, the minister said she and O’Rourke had “very positive engagement”.

“We discussed the importance of continuing the programme of reform of RTÉ, and the priority of putting in place a sustainable funding model for RTÉ and public service media in Ireland,” she said.

“I am looking forward to working with the Chair and the Board in progressing the major reform agenda underway in the organisation”.

The statement also said they will work together to respond to the recommendations published by the Public Accounts Committee this week, and to the two independent Expert Advisory Committee reports that Minister Martin has commissioned.

The Oireachtas committee’s report into RTÉ recommended that the national broadcaster be brought back under the statutory remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). 

The move would allow for more scrutiny and oversight of RTÉ by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC). 

It also recommends that RTÉ should report the exact amounts of money paid out to any former members of staff who receive more than €150,000 as an exit package. 

It says that exit agreements should be forbidden from containing any confidentiality clause or NDA so that former employees are able to answer questions about them if needed at a later date. 

PAC chair Brian Stanley was strongly critical of RTE’s governance, saying that it showed “a lack of rigorous financial controls, poor communication, little transparency and amount to a failure of governance which combined have damaged public trust in an organisation for which trust should be paramount.”

Stanley said there were “common threads” of poor governance and a “general lack of transparency and accountability” to the board and minister.

He also said that the committee felt it had been misled by the broadcaster in relation to correspondence about Toy Show The Musical.

‘Horrendous’

RTÉ has been mired in rolling controversies since last summer around issues with finance, governance and culture at the organisation.

The report follows the broadcaster becoming the subject of yet another scandal over exit payments in recent weeks.

Staff held a rally in Donnybrook, at which Director General Kevin Bakhurst acknowledged that the past year has been “horrendous” for staff, adding that he is “absolutely determined” to make the broadcaster better to work for.

RTÉ’s National Union of Journalists representative Emma O’Kelly remarked that staff are being treated like “political footballs”, as the focus has been taken off creating a new funding model while the broadcaster tries to manage ongoing scandals. 

She said that while staff are concerned about culture and governance issues within the organisation, they have been a “distraction” from the “urgent need for future funding” that is secure and equitable.