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RTÉ HAS REFUSED a request from TDs to release the names of its top 100 earners.
In a note to members of the Oireachtas Media Committee, the state broadcaster said that it had not questioned staff over whether they were prepared to have their names released, citing GDPR reasons.
“It remains inappropriate to ask staff for permission to release their names alongside their salaries,” the note reads.
In this regard, RTÉ doubts that the collection of permissions and/or publication of details could be conducted in accordance with the GDPR.
The note forms part of a tranche of 178 documents provided by RTÉ to the committee ahead of a hearing tomorrow.
The documents contain details on a number of financial and personnel matters at RTÉ.
Among them, are documents showing that 61 people received a car allowance at the broadcaster last year, which came to a total cost of €656,651.
However, the names of those in receipt of the allowance were not revealed, and it was confirmed that those in receipt of the allowance did not need to have a driver’s licence.
“Car allowances form part of some employee remuneration and there is no requirement to have a driving licence,” a note said.
The range of the allowance was between €1,000 and €25,000 a year, with the most common allowance being between €12,5000 and €13,000 a year.
Toy Show: The Musical
Other documents in the tranche show that the airtime given over to promoting last year’s Toy Show the Musical had a “notional” value of €1.3 million.
The musical was a commercial flop, making just €495,961 in revenue against costs of €2,699,193. In total, the project made a loss of €2,203,231.
Another document contains an email in which an RTÉ official discusses shortening a list of possible replacements for Ryan Tubridy after he left the Late Late Show. The Media Committee had request such a list.
“We probably need to cut this down,” the official wrote.
To get good quality info back, I would suggest 12 names would be ideal. There’s 26 there. Could probably push to 14 and it would be well disguised.
There are also emails between former Director General of RTÉ Dee Forbes and Ryan Tubridy’s agent Noel Kelly, in which Tubridy’s contract and an additional €75,000 that he was due to be paid are discussed.
RTÉ representatives are due before the committee tomorrow at 1.30pm. It will be the first time RTÉ has appeared before the committee since it parted ways with Ryan Tubridy.
I will not release licence tax
@Davy: TO EVERYONE… If a TV tax inspector knocks on your door looking for your papers, Tell them that due to GDPR you’re declining to release whether you do or don’t have a TV license.
@Davy: Correct and the government shouldn’t release the 50 odd million euro bailout either.
@KTH: I wonder if they’ve heard that excuse
So an irish company funded by the Irish licence payer doesn’t want to show the licence payer how much they’re paying the top 100 snouts in the trough, sounds about right.
@Andy Felthersnatch: I can understand not releasing the names, that would be against GDPR. But releasing the salaries and the job title associated with them technically wouldn’t be. Even releasing the salary figures alone would be something
@another one? what’s going on is the semi state sec: gdpr is not applicable in unlicensed services from public sector fund bodies.
Close that kip of a place down
Car allowance, holy jesus wath next
And we the hard working tax payer WILL NOT give them the €55 million bailout either.
€55 MILLION…
Let that sink in.
@KTH: Elon musk said that when he bought Twitter ,, hilarious
@KTH: If the tax-payer is asked to fund this bailout while the money could easily be raised by selling land, people will be marching in the streets.
This is just bonkers
“Among them, are documents showing that 61 people received a car allowance at the broadcaster last year, which came to a total cost of €656,651.
However, the names of those in receipt of the allowance were not revealed, and it was confirmed that those in receipt of the allowance did not need to have a driver’s licence.”
@Simon Moore (SkylineSi): Just over €10000 each. A friend of minevworks for a well known pharma company, and this is a PITTANCE, and just try getting THAT company to release details of their top earners.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill:
Is that pharma co. getting €160 from every household?
Is that pharma co. looking for over €55 million in a bailout?
And that €55 MILLION is just for 1 year btw.
Apples and oranges.
@Sean O’Dhubhghaill: you don’t understand the difference between private and public?
Hold on a car allowance and no driver’s licence surely that’s illegal, evasion of tax? If you or I did this revenue wouldn’t be shy of getting us to pay back plus penalties.
@Vincent Hughes: might cover taxis if the recipient doesn’t have a drivers license. I don’t think BIK applies if it is renumeration in lieu of expenses
@Vincent Hughes: the employer doesn’t ask to see the licence. That doesn’t mean that the employee doesn’t hold one. It’s fairly standard practice when paying a car allowance. They’re often paid so as to bypass the approval process of a salary increase.
@Vincent Hughes: and the allowance is paid thru payroll and taxed in the same way as salary
Probably cause it’ll show the difference in salary from top to bottom
Can’t have the public knowing how their licence fee and taxes are spent! Openness, honesty, and transparency would appear to be principles alien to the mandarins in RTÉ. Not so much alien, though, more like they couldn’t care less about them in their little bubble of unreality…
Funny how GDPR stops business from all sorts of oversite, but doesn’t protect our data from being exploited.
And jazes RTE is on some sort of kamakaze mission.
They could publish it anonymised. Taxpayers money etc
@Temp Stuff: You can also throw in the unemployed who fund RTE, they have to pay the licence fee out of their social welfare payments.
@Andy Felthersnatch: wrong, majority are exempt if in receipt of social welfare. you need to read up Andy
@Temp Stuff: You need to proof read your own comment.
The majority of ppl in receipt of social welfare do not get a free TV licence and the ones that do only get one under a strict criteria.
They won’t do it because the combined figure will absolutely stun the nation
An organisation that has little but contempt for the whole Irish public
How did people remain so closed to this fact for so long? It’s a totally biased broadcaster
@Sean oSuilleabhain: RTE is symbolic of the general attitude of the state(civil/public service, semi) to the public imo.
So staff get a car allowance roughly equivalent to the old age pension and you don’t even need a driving licence, my oh my, how the other half live.
RTE, not fit for purpose for some decades now. I wonder how may will pay for TV ‘licences’ now…
So basically the managers reached the top of their pay scale, and the only way to pay themselves more money was to pay themselves a car allowance. While the other workers remained at the top of their pay scale until RTÉ’s first wage increase in 17 years at the start of the year.
If a farmer got 1000 euro from EU for allowing him to continue farm below cost – full details was posted online for all to see – but the public dis – servants can secretly do what they like with the Irish people’s money.
Surely a Freedom of Information query could sort that out. We are being treated like fools by RTÉ. Has nobody got an honest conscience these days?
@Ollie Fitzpatrick: in Ireland such a thing is as rare as hen’s teeth. We idolise the worst in society and love nothing more than attacking the weak, sick and poor. It’s kind of our thing.
Put a billionaire tax dodging racist nepobaby up against a homeless person with decades of experience working in industry and in charity and the billionaire will win here every time.
Final insult to tax payer
Of course not but we’ll fund it
Top earners 1-10, Ryan tubridty
They wonder why more and more people won’t be paying the TV licence,but of course sure isn’t it one rule for them the so called elite and another for us the mere servants, still won’t pay the licence fee
Public money used so public has the right to know. If you want to work in public then thats the consequence. Nobody is forced to work there.
Close this secret society down. No more bailouts.
It’s our money, we should have absolute clarity on where it’s going.
New boss, no change. Same old, same old.
What Are they hiding That Should Be in the Public Domain! And What an Absolute Scandal there is NO Requirement for a Drivers licence to avail of the Car Allowance. How Long People? How much more are we willing to allow them to get away with this Nonsense???!!!!
So what does the top 100 salaries cost us per annum , maybe €22Million?
Didn’t take long for them to revert to type. A new DG you say?
If disclosing the top 100 breaches GDPR as they say, then releasing top 10 must breach GDPR.
Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has said linear TV would be gone in 5 to 10 years. This isn’t the first time he’s said it, or the last. RTE needs to make programmes they can sell worldwide and there is plenty of talent around the country on local and community radio station who could replace Turby/Darcy/Duffy and more on RTE Radio.
And they want the government to give them out money
But for some reason successive governments have poured our tax money into this pit.
And they’re asking to be funded via taxes to circumvent the idea of the TV licence removal…
What a flippin’ joke.
But you still want the oul licence fee yes?
Certainly historically RTÉ does not engage in real dialogue with the public! Feedback denial is an RTÉ operational imperative concerning the quality or range of service of RTÉ with little regard to the public…..it has zero tolerance, or record, for listening to any voice from the Consumer…… RTÉ’S absolute insulation from real public dialogue with, and feedback from real people, members of the general public has brought RTÉ to its knees! Now the bubble is burst RTÉ is obsolete…..the media mouthpiece of government squeals like a hungry pig! And Orwellian government listens! “public service broadcasting” my arse…..
Wait until the news later when it broadcast that the management where given car allowances and none where declared
Anyone else feeling the tides changing, a chill in the wind, a reckoning on the horizon even, as if people have now collectively woken up and said “wait a minute, you are spending my money doing what now??”
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