LAST UPDATE | 22 Aug 2023
THE OIREACHTAS MEDIA Committee is to request to meet with RTÉ again on 13 September to look at the actions now being taken by the public broadcaster in response to the Ryan Tubridy payments scandal.
The move comes after a private meeting of the Oireachtas committee was held earlier today.
Committee members also agreed to seek a meeting with Minister for Media Catherine Martin on the future funding of public sector broadcasting.
Speaking earlier today, the chair of the Oireachtas Media Committee Niamh Smyh said she wants to hold another public meeting on the RTÉ pay scandal, to hear from key witnesses that “we haven’t heard from up to this point”.
RTÉ’s director general Kevin Bakhurst said last week that presenter Ryan Tubridy would not be returning to the airwaves, after negotiations broke down.
Smyth told Morning Ireland today that “one part of the challenges, we’ll say, for RTÉ has come to an end, which I’m really glad to see.
“But I think we cannot ignore the fact that there is a piece of work to be done around public trust.”
She said the committee is “anxious” to hear from former RTÉ director general Dee Forbes and former director of content Jim Jennings. Neither has been available for committee appearances or media requests due to health reasons.
Smyth added that the main takeaways from the second Grant Thornton report into the scandal were “lack of oversight and that lack of good governance and that lack of working relationship”.
“Myself and colleagues would want to hear from the board themselves that that has changed.
“So there’s no doubt in my mind – we will be having a public meeting over the coming weeks.”
Not all committee members were in agreement on the need for a follow up meeting with RTÉ however.
Speaking to The Journal this afternoon, Tipperary TD and committee member Mattie McGrath said further meetings are “a waste of time”.
McGrath said he and the public are now “fatigued” with the whole debacle, however he said he was alone in the view that a further meeting with RTÉ is unnecessary.
Elsewhere, Brian Stanley, the chair of the Public Accounts Committee said that RTÉ must show evidence of cultural change since the scandal emerged.
In a statement yesterday, he said: “It is clear that the issues at the heart of this scandal went far beyond one individual. Serious questions remain about the broader culture in RTÉ that has been unearthed in recent months.
“There has evidently been an insider culture with opaque sweet heart deals for ‘top talent’ in stark contrast to the conditions experienced by ordinary workers. We have also seen a concerning lack accountability and transparency around the spending of taxpayers’ money, with farcical revelations around luxury trips and events funded by public money.
“All of this is indicative of a broader culture that will not be resolved with the employment of a single individual.”
Stanley said the the Public Accounts Committee has requested 58 pieces of information, some of which has not been provided by RTÉ or only partially provided.
“We need to see this information provided so that the whole system can be reformed and public confidence can be restored in our public service broadcaster.”
Tubridy, who was previously the organisation’s highest earner, was due to return to his morning radio show in September for a salary of €170,000.
Bakhurst said last week that trust had “broken down” during negotiations, and that a statement from Tubridy “made without consultation” was the clincher.
The slot formerly occupied by The Ryan Tubridy Show has been replaced with The Nine O’Clock Show, along with new theme music.
The scandal, which first emerged as a discrepancy between what RTÉ said Tubridy was being paid and what he was actually being paid, spiralled into a crisis for the national broadcaster, with major issues with advertising revenue and corporate governance being uncovered.
Disarray in the production of Toy Show: The Musical and a €5,000 bill for flip flops were among the revelations that engulfed RTÉ.
With reporting from Jane Matthews.
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