The Minister for Arts and Media Catherine Martin has said she expects to receive an interim report into the operation of the RTÉ “barter account” which was used as a vehicle to pay €150,000 in remuneration to Ryan Tubridy.
The detail was outlined in a letter to an Oireachtas committee which has invited the entire board of RTÉ and director general Kevin Bakhurst to a special meeting in September to determine what the broadcaster is doing to address serious issues of governance, oversight and transparency that came to light during the controversy over payments to Mr Tubridy this summer.
The all-party Committee on Media, Culture and the Arts met privately for two hours on Tuesday morning by video link to discuss the Grant Thornton Report into the payments controversy which identified poor governance, deficiencies in internal management control, failures in finance and a lack of communication from the executive to the board.
After the meeting, its chair, Niamh Smyth, said it had decided to invite the whole board in as well as Mr Bakhurst, and any member of his team he wished to bring to a meeting on September 13th. She said the committee clerk will also invite Minister for Media Catherine Martin to attend but possibly on another date.
“The meeting will be dedicated to oversight,” said Ms Smyth, a Fianna Fáil TD for Cavan-Monaghan. “Many members of the board have been in place for a number of years, for the whole of this period, and we want to hear from the board that open-ness and transparency is now happening, and there is more alignment and collegiality between it and the management at RTÉ.”
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The Minister wrote to the Committee on Monday to update it on the progress of a number of reviews that have been ordered into RTÉ.
In the letter, Ms Martin said she would meet the chair, Siún Ní Raghallaigh and Mr Bakhurst “in the coming week” to discuss next steps in rebuilding trust in RTÉ. She also said she had two phone conversations with Ms Ní Raghallaigh around the time of the publication of the Grant Thornton Report.
She said she intended to emphasise the need for RTÉ to co-operate fully with all the examinations and to take interim measures to “address the serious failings that have been identified.
“It is imperative that trust in RTÉ is restored as soon as possible,” she has stated in the letter.
She said the two independent expert reviews of RTÉ were continuing and said she expected to receive an interim report from forensic accountants Mazars in the coming week.
Ms Martin also disclosed that New Era, the body that provides economic advice to the Government, is currently engaging with RTÉ on its annual report and accounts for 2022, which will reveal the extent of its funding deficit. She did not indicate when the report would be submitted to the Government other than saying it would be done “as a matter of urgency”.
Addressing longer-term funding, the Minister stated that the Government has received the recommendations from a technical group, which looked at reforms of the licence fee system, but had “paused” a decision for now. She said before any decision was made, it was crucial for RTÉ to reestablish trust with the Irish public.
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Another member of the committee, Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon said the committee also wanted RTÉ to furnish any outstanding documents that had been requested before the September 13th meeting, including a report on Toy Show the Musical, and the register of interests promised by the broadcaster.
He said it would be Mr Bakhurst’s first appearance before the media committee and would provide a good opportunity for him to address the broader issues. “RTÉ is losing €150,000 a day in licence revenue. It needs to address that to ensure the day-to-day running of the station as well as protecting its workforce,” said Mr Dillon, who represents Mayo.
“It will be interesting to hear the views of Kevin Bakhurst on a sustainable funding model. Government needs to play its part as well.
He said that “time was now of the essence” for the Government to publish the report of the technical group on the review of the licence fee system.
Fianna Fáil Senator Malcolm Bryne said it was imperative for Mr Bakhurst and Ms Ní Raghallaigh to set out what RTÉ has been doing to take action on foot of the Grant Thornton Report.
“Our committee has been looking at the future funding models for public service media since March and we are due to publish a report this autumn.
“Without pre-empting what our conclusion might be, there is certainly a view that the Government cannot avoid tackling the issue of the licence fee for too much longer. This really has to be done by the autumn,” he said.
