RTÉ staff voice dismay over ‘secret rules’ for elite within broadcaster

RTÉ staff continue to wait “for strong evidence of a culture shift” within the organisation and feel weary at the publication of more evidence that a “parallel universe” and “secret rules” existed within the national broadcaster for so long.

Speaking following the publication of the McCann FitzGerald report on RTÉ's voluntary exit schemes, chair of National Union of Journalists (NUJ) Dublin broadcasting branch, RTÉ education correspondent Emma O’Kelly, said the findings were “concerning and wearying” at a time when staff just want to “put these times behind them”.

She recalled how staff were being told of the “massive financial crisis” facing the organisation, while at the same time, “the chief financial officer was walking out the door with a substantial redundancy payment that, as we know today, went under the radar”.

“They were looking for pay cuts, the closure of Lyric FM, the sale of the RTÉ Guide. At that time we were told everything was up for assessment and yet the chief financial officer could avail of this package via a separate route.”

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Thereport published on Wednesday found that an exit package paid to RTÉ's former chief financial adviser Breda O’Keeffe had been approved by Dee Forbes, then RTÉ director general, rather than the broadcaster’s executive board as required.

It was further proof of “one rule for a very small elite group within the organisation and secret rules we weren’t aware of”, said Ms O’Kelly. “We accept the assurances of [director general] Kevin Bakhurst that this could never happen again but we’re still waiting for strong evidence of a culture shift in RTÉ.”

Séamus Dooley, Irish secretary of the NUJ, said the exit package that had been revealed represented a “grave breach of trust between management, RTÉ staff and the unions who represent staff”.

Mr Dooley noted that a number of current RTÉ executive board members held their positions at the time Ms O’Keefe’s package was granted. “We’re not looking for heads but we’re looking for answers. This is such a fundamental breach of trust, trade unions feel that they were misled.”

Mr Dooley also questioned why the director of human resources, who queried whether it was a “good idea” for the chief financial officer to leave under the exit scheme, did not make her concerns known to the chair of RTÉ. He also noted that the rules of the 2021 RTÉ voluntary exit programme specifically stated that “final decisions on all applications will be made by the executive board”.

There should have been an onus on the board “not simply to follow orders but the challenge the director general”, said Mr Dooley. “The director general does not have the divine right of a monarch.”

Former RTÉ midlands correspondent Ciarán Mullooly said he was “absolutely shocked” by the revelations and that he had to “wait for over two months for the executive to even consider my application to leave”.

“Even then my severance was strictly based on the cap put on it by the Department of Finance” which was “two years’ salary max while others walked away with much, much more,” Mr Mullooly posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday evening.

“Revenue must now investigate this scandalous breach of the rules by management at the time.”

The review into the voluntary exit scheme follows a report last week on RTÉ's Toy Show the Musical production, which detailed a major absence of oversight of the loss-making project.

The Oireachtas Committee on Media plans to hold a hearing on the RTÉ controversies on February 14th. Committee members have agreed to invite director general Mr Bakhurst, members of the board and Ms Forbes to appear and answer questions.

Separately, the Dáil’s spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), is seeking an extension of its remit to allow it to call in witnesses from RTÉ for a fresh round of questions on the two reports.

RTÉ is not usually answerable to the PAC as its accounts are not audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General.

* This article was amended on February 1st, 2023

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