THE CHAIR OF the Public Accounts Committee has told the Dáil that invites will be sent to Ryan Tubridy, Dee Forbes, Noel Kelly and three other key players in RTÉ to appear before the committee this week, and that they will be compelled to do so if they refuse.
Brian Stanley TD said: “We expect all six to attend. Their knowledge of what occurred in RTÉ over the year is invaluable. We will use our powers to compel them, but they should do the decent thing as public servants to show up, that’s what we are calling on them to do”.
TD John Brady said that after sitting through nine hours of committee meetings last week, he is disappointed at “how little” of what happened has actually been exposed, but said that the information that did come to light was “shocking”.
RTÉ has been embroiled in a secret payments scandal for the last week after they revealed that they paid Ryan Tubridy €345,000 more than it had publicly disclosed in recent years.
Since then other revelations have come to light, including the fact that RTÉ spent €138,000 on IRFU season tickets and €111,000 on travel and accommodation for the Rugby World Cup via a “barter account”, the committee heard.
Today Minister Catherine Martin said that the Government is launching two independent reviews into the culture at RTÉ, and its relationships with external contractors respectively.
A forensic accountant is also being appointed to examine RTÉ financial records.
Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that the former RTE chief financial officer Breda O Keeffe will attend tomorrow’s Joint Oireachtas Media Committee along with former chair Moya Doherty.
With reporting by Christina Finn
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