TERENCE O’ROURKE, the current chair of the ESB, is set to be appointed as the new chairperson of the RTÉ board.
The Journal understands that the recommendation of O’Rourke was accepted by Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, Tánaiste Micheál Martin and Green Party leader Eamon Ryan this evening.
Media Minister Catherine Martin will seek Cabinet approval to appoint O’Rourke as the board’s new chair in the morning. Two other board members are also set to be appointed.
O’Rourke has been the chair of the ESB since 2020. He previously served as the chairman of Enterprise Ireland, and as the managing partner of accountancy at KPMG.
It comes after his predecessor Siún Ní Raghallaigh strongly criticised Minister Martin in a lengthy statement, saying she believes her “enforced dismissal” from the role “seemed designed to traduce my reputation”.
Ní Raghallaigh resigned after Martin’s appearance on RTÉ’s Prime Time programme last month, in which she failed to express confidence in her.
Martin later told the Oireachtas Media Committee that Ní Raghallaigh had given her inaccurate information on two separate occasions, and had threatened to resign if the Minister sent her a letter expressing her disappointment in her before the Prime Time interview.
Ní Raghallaigh said: “If the Minister had decided that she no longer wanted me as Chair, that is her privilege.
“However, I cannot remain silent about the manner of my enforced dismissal which seemed designed to traduce my reputation.”
Martin responded by saying she needed to be able to rely on “clear, timely and accurate information” from the former chair of the board.
She added: “This is particularly important at such a challenging time in RTÉ’s history.”
Tomorrow, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) will publish its report on the national broadcaster.
The report will recommend that RTÉ be brought under the remit of the State’s auditor, the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG).
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