RTÉ HAS ANNOUNCED that Jim Jennings, the broadcaster’s Director of Content, will leave the company at the end of the month.

In an email sent to staff, Director General Kevin Bakhurst said RTÉ had “reached agreement” on Jennings’ terms of departure after almost 40 years “with the support of the Workplace Relations Commission”.

The terms of his exit package were not disclosed by RTÉ today.

Jennings was one of 20 people interviewed by auditor Grant Thornton in relation to Toy Show: The Musical.

The beleaguered project ended up making a loss of over €2.2 million. It was found to have had no formal approval by the RTÉ Board.

Jennings joined RTÉ in 1985 as a researcher and subsequently worked as a television producer and director before becoming Head of RTÉ Radio 1 in 2010. He took up the role of Director of Content in 2017.

He was a member of the RTÉ executive board at the time of the secret payments scandal centred on broadcaster Ryan Tubridy.

Last year the board was stood down, and Jennings was one of five people not included in the new board, alongside former Director-General Dee Forbes and former Chief Financial Officer Richard Collins.

Jennings began a leave of absence in July 2023, which continued until at least July 2024. As a result, he did not appear before the Oireachtas Public Accounts Committee hearings into the payments scandal.

Bakhurst thanked Jennings for his “long service to RTÉ and his great contribution to the organisation and public service media for almost 40 years”.