We need your help now
Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.
You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.
If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.
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.
By continuing, you are indicating that you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
LAST UPDATE | 5 Mar 2024
ONE OF THE most powerful Oireachtas committees has published a report into RTÉ, recommending that the national broadcaster should 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, which released the report this morning.
The PAC report 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.
Among its 21 recommendations, the report also suggests that RTÉ puts a ban on side deals for employees or contractors, and brings in a register of gifts given to staff.
Stanley said the RTÉ board should have been more “vigilant, assertive and inquiring”.
The committee also recommended that all invoices issued by RTÉ be “clearly and accurately labelled”.
Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said: “It should be bog standard that when you write an invoice, that it’s for the purpose that it’s intended.”
Green Party TD Marc O Cathasaigh added: “Some of the recommendations here are corporate governance 101.
“It shouldn’t be necessary to say invoices should clearly state what they’re actually for. It shouldn’t be necessary to say the audit and risk committee need to be properly resourced.”
Fianna Fail TD Paul McAuliffe said: “At the very heart of this is a failure of governance and financial controls across a series of projects.”
He said the committee had concluded that RTÉ had attempted to circumvent normal regulations and procedures and to conceal the purported underwriting of the contract and payments to Tubridy.
McAuliffe also said the committee felt that RTE had used its barter account as a slush fund, defined as a reserve of money held secretly by a company that has no accountability for its use.
He also said that the committee felt it had been misled by the broadcaster in relation to correspondence about Toy Show The Musical.
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 over recent weeks.
The move to bring RTÉ under the remit of the C&AG will rest with the Government, with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar yesterday telling reporters that he thinks there are benefits in such a measure.
While noting that the Government hasn’t “made a policy decision” on the State auditor’s involvement, he said: “I think it’d be a good idea to have that additional level of scrutiny.”
However, Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe cautioned last month that such a move would have “big consequences” for the national broadcaster.
Donohoe said that it would not be a simple decision because the C&AG doesn’t usually oversee commercial entities.
As RTÉ is dual funded, it receives revenue from both licence fees and advertising.
Speaking to reporters today at Government Buildings, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said that the report and its recommendations would be considered, but stopped short of stating that the government would green light the move to the state’s financial watchdog getting oversight of the state broadcaster and its finances.
But PAC member Verona Murphy Murphy told The Journal the recommendation is crucial to future oversight of RTÉ’s governance.
The Wexford TD said that by bringing it under the C&AG’s remit, it will ensure “annual” scrutiny and statutory oversight by elected Oireachtas members.
“It will require legislation so if the Government are sincere, they will treat it as an emergency,” Murphy said.
In a statement this afternoon, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) welcomed the publication of PAC’s report.
Along with sister unions and the RTÉ trade union group, the NUJ said it will consider the extensive recommendations of the committee.
Giving an initial reaction to the report, NUJ Irish secretary Séamus Dooley supported the inclusion of bringing RTÉ under the remit of the C&AG.
Dooley also called for the publication of the two expert reports on governance and workplace culture “as soon as possible”.
“The NUJ has long advocated greater transparency and accountability in relation to all aspects of RTÉ, including executive renumeration. The Comptroller and Auditor General’s office could exercise an important role in building trust,” Dooley said.
He noted that the PAC report is, however, “just one part of the jigsaw” and said should be considered alongside the two expert reports.
“At a practical level, I do not believe the reports need to be published simultaneously and if either is available in a timely fashion it should be considered by the Minister and put into the public domain,” Dooley said.
“While all of this work is valuable, RTÉ staff need to see progress on reform, alongside certainty regarding funding,” he said.
“Delays in the publication of other reports, such as the Future of Media Commission report, the epic delay in publishing the statutory review of defamation law and the long-awaited review of the Freedom of Information Act are worrying precedents and it is vital that recommendations are co-ordinated and considered,” Dooley added.
“Trade unions will consider the practical and contractual implications of the PAC report and looks forward to publication of the Expert Report.”
Separate to the PAC report, Terence O’Rourke is set to be appointed as the new chair of RTÉ today, along with two new board members.
Minister for Media Catherine Martin will seek Cabinet approval for the appointments later today.
Additional reporting by Christina Finn, Jane Matthews, Christine Bohan and Hayley Halpin
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
Use precise geolocation data. Actively scan device characteristics for identification. Store and/or access information on a device. Personalised advertising and content, advertising and content measurement, audience research and services development.
These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work.
These cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
These cookies enable the website to provide enhanced functionality and personalisation. They may be set by us or by third party providers whose services we have added to our pages. If you do not allow these cookies then these services may not function properly.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not be able to monitor our performance.
Cookies, device or similar online identifiers (e.g. login-based identifiers, randomly assigned identifiers, network based identifiers) together with other information (e.g. browser type and information, language, screen size, supported technologies etc.) can be stored or read on your device to recognise it each time it connects to an app or to a website, for one or several of the purposes presented here.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times an ad is presented to you).
Information about your activity on this service (such as forms you submit, content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (for example, information from your previous activity on this service and other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (that might include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present advertising that appears more relevant based on your possible interests by this and other entities.
Advertising presented to you on this service can be based on your advertising profiles, which can reflect your activity on this service or other websites or apps (like the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects.
Information about your activity on this service (for instance, forms you submit, non-advertising content you look at) can be stored and combined with other information about you (such as your previous activity on this service or other websites or apps) or similar users. This is then used to build or improve a profile about you (which might for example include possible interests and personal aspects). Your profile can be used (also later) to present content that appears more relevant based on your possible interests, such as by adapting the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find content that matches your interests.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on your content personalisation profiles, which can reflect your activity on this or other services (for instance, the forms you submit, content you look at), possible interests and personal aspects. This can for example be used to adapt the order in which content is shown to you, so that it is even easier for you to find (non-advertising) content that matches your interests.
Information regarding which advertising is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine how well an advert has worked for you or other users and whether the goals of the advertising were reached. For instance, whether you saw an ad, whether you clicked on it, whether it led you to buy a product or visit a website, etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of advertising campaigns.
Information regarding which content is presented to you and how you interact with it can be used to determine whether the (non-advertising) content e.g. reached its intended audience and matched your interests. For instance, whether you read an article, watch a video, listen to a podcast or look at a product description, how long you spent on this service and the web pages you visit etc. This is very helpful to understand the relevance of (non-advertising) content that is shown to you.
Reports can be generated based on the combination of data sets (like user profiles, statistics, market research, analytics data) regarding your interactions and those of other users with advertising or (non-advertising) content to identify common characteristics (for instance, to determine which target audiences are more receptive to an ad campaign or to certain contents).
Information about your activity on this service, such as your interaction with ads or content, can be very helpful to improve products and services and to build new products and services based on user interactions, the type of audience, etc. This specific purpose does not include the development or improvement of user profiles and identifiers.
Content presented to you on this service can be based on limited data, such as the website or app you are using, your non-precise location, your device type, or which content you are (or have been) interacting with (for example, to limit the number of times a video or an article is presented to you).
With your acceptance, your precise location (within a radius of less than 500 metres) may be used in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
With your acceptance, certain characteristics specific to your device might be requested and used to distinguish it from other devices (such as the installed fonts or plugins, the resolution of your screen) in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
Your data can be used to monitor for and prevent unusual and possibly fraudulent activity (for example, regarding advertising, ad clicks by bots), and ensure systems and processes work properly and securely. It can also be used to correct any problems you, the publisher or the advertiser may encounter in the delivery of content and ads and in your interaction with them.
Certain information (like an IP address or device capabilities) is used to ensure the technical compatibility of the content or advertising, and to facilitate the transmission of the content or ad to your device.
Information about your activity on this service may be matched and combined with other information relating to you and originating from various sources (for instance your activity on a separate online service, your use of a loyalty card in-store, or your answers to a survey), in support of the purposes explained in this notice.
In support of the purposes explained in this notice, your device might be considered as likely linked to other devices that belong to you or your household (for instance because you are logged in to the same service on both your phone and your computer, or because you may use the same Internet connection on both devices).
Your device might be distinguished from other devices based on information it automatically sends when accessing the Internet (for instance, the IP address of your Internet connection or the type of browser you are using) in support of the purposes exposed in this notice.
The choices you make regarding the purposes and entities listed in this notice are saved and made available to those entities in the form of digital signals (such as a string of characters). This is necessary in order to enable both this service and those entities to respect such choices.
have your say