LAST UPDATE | 29 Oct

RECENT REPORTS OF financial matters at RTÉ relate to “legacy issues” at the national broadcaster, Minister for Media Patrick O’Donovan said today.

A report into the station’s financial matters was discussed at Cabinet today after the broadcaster yesterday defended a number of unorthodox payments uncovered in a new internal report, saying they are historic and date back “years or decades”.

RTÉ’s 2024 annual report was also discussed.

The Irish Independent said yesterday that a financial report by RTÉ contained eight irregular payments ranging between €10,000 and €30,000, mainly related to pensions.

It was compiled by RTÉ’s chief financial officer Mari Hurley, and also raises questions about a piece of land and a valuable artwork in the broadcaster’s possession, where ownership remains unclear.

O’Donovan told RTÉ’s News at One today that the artwork in question is at the organisation but its ownership is disputed. The piece of artwork, O’Donovan said this afternoon he understands, is worth “in the region” of €100,000.

Director General Kevin Bakhurst this evening said the painting was most recently valued at €60,000 and is in an office on the Montrose campus.

It’s believed the painting was loaned to RTÉ some 40 to 50 years ago by an art gallery, which has been in touch requesting the painting is returned. Neither RTÉ nor the art gallery can find the paperwork for the painting at present, Bakhurst said.

The piece of land is an acre at the Montrose campus that was given to Eircom, which predated Eir, for short term use. 

O’Donovan said the acre “now may have an impact on the future development of the campus” and “now, obviously the ownership of that is an issue”.

“There’s also some tax issues with regard to some personnel abroad,” he said.

He said many of the payments are “fairly straightforward” but he has not yet received all necessary information on certain matters, such as pension payments made to survivors and widows.

“I want to, obviously, as the shareholder of the company, be able to stand full square behind the current management and executive who I think are doing a very good job in the backdrop of what was a cataclysmic situation in RTÉ, in terms of transformation,” the Minister added.

He further said RTÉ is a public service that needs to be funded, “and people who own a television need to put their hand in their pocket and pay for the television license”.

“It is at the moment, coming out of an awful turbulent period where the license fee effectively collapsed thanks to the difficulties that are out there, but the new Director General and the board have set in place a transformational journey that will need support from government for a period of time, and that I will support,” he said.

In an internal email to staff yesterday, Bakhurst said the financial matters “were identified and addressed by RTÉ, and were brought to the attention of the Department”, adding that most of the issues are “years or decades old”.

Four of the eight payments date back decades, including one made to the widow of a former Director General, while the remaining four relate to staff who took early retirement under voluntary exit programmes in 2017 and 2021.

RTÉ finances have been under increased scrutiny since revelations around undisclosed payments that emerged in 2023, prompting a series of Oireachtas committee hearings and demands for the broadcaster to improve its transparency.

With additional reporting from Andrew Walsh and Emma Hickey