LAST UPDATE | 23 Feb
THE CHAIR OF RTÉ’s Board has resigned, after the Media Minister Catherine Martin failed to express confidence in her.
The Minister last night asked to meet Siún Ní Raghallaigh early this morning to express her disappointment amid ongoing controversies within the national broadcaster, and to give the chair the chance to explain further.
Ní Raghallaigh’s resignation came after Martin said last night that she was repeatedly “misinformed” by the RTÉ chair on whether the board signed off on the exit packages for two former executives.
Martin said that Ní Raghallaigh assured her on Monday and Wednesday that the board had no involvement in approving exit payments made to executives, but that she was then told yesterday morning that the RTÉ board did play a role in signing off on that of former chief financial officer Richard Collins.
But just before 1am, Ní Raghallaigh released a statement, announcing her resignation.
Ní Raghallaigh took over as chair of the RTÉ board in November 2022. Throughout her time in the post, she has dealt with the fallout of the Ryan Tubridy payment scandal, and further controversy about exit payments in more recent weeks.
The broadcaster came under political pressure to disclose the details of exit packages given to some executives, following the revelation that former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe received a voluntary redundancy package worth €450,000.
Ní Raghallaigh said this morning that in recent meetings with Minister Martin she admitted she was aware of the exit packages of former director of strategy Rory Coveney and former chief financial officer Richard Collins. “I said that I was aware of them, but they had not come before the full board.
“However, I neglected to recollect that Richard Collin’s exit package did go before the renumeration committee. This was not an intentional misrepresentation, and I subsequently contacted the Department to clarify the details and remind them that I had previously appraised them of the matter in October.”
Ní Raghallaigh said the director general Kevin Bakhurst had brought the exit package of Coveney to her attention, while the exit package of Collins “was brought to and approved by the remuneration committee of the board of RTÉ” in October.
Following Martin’s comments last night, Ní Raghallaigh said it is “abundantly clear” that she no longer has the confidence of the minister. “As such, my position is no longer tenable.”
In a statement following the announcement of her resignation, Bakhurst described Ní Raghallaigh as “an excellent chair” who will be “sorely missed”.
“Without Siún’s experience, insight, guidance and optimism, beginning the process of meaningfully transforming RTÉ would have been a bigger challenge.
“Her integrity, hard work, commitment to public service and her appreciation of the important work you all do in serving audiences, despite many challenges, made her a valuable ally.”
Ní Raghallaigh said that she believes strongly in the importance of public service media, and her priority has always been to secure its future.
She thanked her fellow Board members, as well as the commitment by all staff “throughout this challenging time for the organisation”.
“My resignation is a source of sadness to me, but it is unavoidable.”
She added that there is a “very urgent need” for the funding model of the national broadcaster to be restored, and she didn’t want her resignation to “distract” from that.
In a statement this morning, Minister Martin thanked her for her service during an “unprecedented crisis”, saying she’s made a significant contribution to RTÉ’s ongoing “transformation”.
“It is imperative that we continue the important process of restoring trust in the organisation. As Ms Ní Raghallaigh stated, there is an urgent need for the transformation process to continue and a sustainable funding model put in place – I am deeply committed to this.”
"What I am going to do tomorrow is talk to the chair of the board..."
— RTÉ Prime Time (@RTE_PrimeTime) February 22, 2024
In response to questions about whether she has confidence in the chair of the RTE board, Catherine Martin says she will be meeting her tomorrow morning to discuss new concerns which have emerged.#rtept pic.twitter.com/XPhq0E2KvL
Labour Party Senator and media spokesperson Marie Sherlock said the minister’s appearance on Prime Time last night was an effective dismissal.
“The minister’s interventions last night will have utterly decimated any chance the broadcaster had at restoring order in the short term,” she said.
“The minister’s hands off approach during this crisis will have profound and long lasting consequences for the broadcaster.”
Justice Minister Helen McEntee told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland that Martin was simply outlining the facts, and that it did not amount to a dismissal.
“She said very clearly that she needed to and wanted to speak with Siún Ní Raghallaigh to discuss further the information that had come to light.”
McEntee acknowledged that it is difficult for the public to trust the public broadcaster, as information is released piece-meal, and said she’d welcome any steps towards greater transparency, including the release of meeting minutes from the remuneration committee.
RTÉ has come under heavy scrutiny over exit packages for executives dating back to 2016, revealed in an external review by McCann Fitzgerald LLP into RTÉ’s voluntary exit schemes which was published last month.
The report found that RTÉ’s former Chief Financial Officer Breda O’Keeffe’s redundancy payment, which it later emerged amounted to €450,000, was the “only one” not considered and approved by the RTÉ executive board, in keeping with the rules of the scheme.
The report found that the “responsibility” for this did not lie with O’Keefe, but with RTÉ and its the former Director General Dee Forbes.
It has since emerged that exit packages were paid to RTÉ’s former Director of Strategy Rory Coveney, who oversaw that €2.2 million loss-making Toy Show The Musical and who resigned at the beginning of the payment scandal that saw Ryan Tubridy leave the broadcaster last summer. It is not known how much he was paid.
And it has also emerged that Richard Collins, O’Keefe’s successor as CFO, was likewise paid an exit package – a revelation that has ultimately led to Ní Raghallaigh’s resignation. It is also not known how much he was paid.
Many of the arrangements are subject to confidentiality agreements, a practice that Minister Catherine Martin has questioned.
Yesterday, Kevin Bakhurst explained that RTÉ had received strong legal advice that it could not disclose the value of exit payments and said that he would be “deliberately breaking the law” if he was to publish information about them.
The advice from legal firm Arthur Cox states that both employees and former employees have a legal right that their personal data relating to their employment is not made publicly available.
However, Bakhurst also said that he has written to former executives asking them to waive their right to confidentiality and reveal details of their exit payments.
Contains reporting by Stephen McDermott.
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