RTÉ has proposed a compromise in its dispute with the Dáil’s public spending watchdog over a document relating to payments to former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) last month warned RTÉ that it would seek powers to compel the release of the document, which the broadcaster has refused to hand over, citing legal advice.
The document is a note of a key meeting held in May 2020, during which former director general Dee Forbes allegedly agreed that RTÉ would guarantee undisclosed payments to Mr Tubridy.
Mr Tubridy’s agent Noel Kelly also participated in the online meeting, as did a legal representative for RTÉ.
PAC chairman Brian Stanley raised the issue of the note with RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst at a meeting of the committee last month saying: “The committee feel there’s obviously an importance to this, particularly in the absence of Ms Dee Forbes being able to attend here because she was one of the people at that meeting.”
He told Mr Bakhurst that if RTÉ was still claiming client confidentiality over the document, “you do have the right to waive that”.
Mr Bakhurst replied by saying that RTÉ wanted to provide transparency and had given the committee almost everything it had asked for.
“I’m not trying to hide behind legal advice – but you will appreciate as a responsible organisation if we had taken legal advice about what we can and can’t and should disclose, it would be remiss of us to act against that legal advice,” he said.
Mr Stanley told Mr Bakhurst that the committee will be moving to seek the power to compel the document.
Mr Bakhurst has now written to the PAC proposing a compromise. His letter outlines the “strict confidentially” RTÉ's independent solicitor’s office maintains for the purpose of providing confidential legal advice to RTÉ.
“Such confidentiality is a central element of the solicitor/client relationship and one that RTÉ is entitled to rely upon,” it says. “RTÉ wishes to respectfully reach a mutually acceptable compromise that we hope will be of assistance and will adequately address the aforementioned concerns of the PAC.
“For the reasons set out above, RTÉ does not believe that it is in a position to provide the PAC with a copy of the note.”
However, Mr Bakhurst suggests that RTÉ could provide the PAC with “an extensive and detailed summary” of the note prepared by law firm Arthur Cox.
The condition of this is that the summary of the note would only be discussed in a private session of the PAC and its contents would not be discussed in public or published.
He said it contains handwritten notes of the Microsoft Teams meeting in May 2020, that it is not a verbatim transcript and should not be considered as such “nor has the context been verified with relevant parties.”
Mr Bakhurst says: “We appreciate that this proposal may be considered somewhat convoluted, however, RTÉ must be cognisant of other valuable and sensitive investigative journalism and programming being carried out by RTÉ, and the central role that the RTÉ's solicitor’s office has in that work. It is therefore a matter of considerable importance that RTÉ maintains confidentiality in relation to such legal files.”
The PAC is expected to consider RTÉ's correspondence on Thursday.
An RTÉ statement said: “With regard to the note of the meeting of May 7th 2020, and the request of the Public Accounts Committee to seek a solution, RTÉ has earlier today written to the Public Accounts Committee to propose a mutually acceptable compromise that we hope will be of assistance and will adequately address the concerns of the PAC.”
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has called for the document to be submitted to the Public Accounts Committee and made public.
Speaking in Shanghai at the end of a four-day visit to China, he said he could not see why the documentation should not be published in full.
" My view is that there should be full transparency in these matters. There may be legal issues there that I’m not aware of or that the RTÉ executives have been advised of in respect of the full document. But the fullest transparency possible should always be provided in situations like this one,” he said.
“I’m not fully familiar with the legal advice obviously, that RTÉ have received in respect of this documentation. But I don’t see what the issue is in terms of preventing first of all the presentation of documentation to the Public Accounts Committee and its subsequent publication.”
