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Consultants in RTÉ governance reviews paid more than €900,000

Department of Media says overall cost of reviews following barter account and salaries controversy was €1,146,315

Oireachtas Arts and Media committee and Dáil’s PAC each want to hear from Dee Forbes directly at hearings this week, when they question senior RTÉ executives about the debacle
Dee Forbes and Ryan Tubridy: In July 2023, the Government approved an examination of RTÉ. Illustration: Paul Scott
Martin Wall
Fri Oct 11 2024 - 06:00

The Government spent more than €900,000 on external consultants involved in two reviews into governance at RTÉ, it has emerged.

Minister for Media Catherine Martin said her department had paid out in excess of €918,000 to consultants who were involved in supporting two reviews commissioned following the Government decision last year to initiate an independent, root-and-branch examination of RTÉ.

Ms Martin told the Dáil in reply to a parliamentary question on Tuesday that €401,591 of this was paid this year to Crowe Advisory Ireland.

The contract was to support the independent expert advisory committee established to undertake a review of contractor fees, human resources and other matters.

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Ms Martin also said Crowe Advisory Ireland had received €230,533 to support the independent expert advisory committee that reviewed governance and culture in RTÉ.

The Minister told Catherine Murphy of the Social Democrats that consultants Mazars had also been paid €236,898 last year as part of the examination of the barter account and any other off-balance sheet accounts in RTÉ. The company received €49,262 this year.

[ Dee Forbes resigns from RTÉ ‘with immediate effect’ over payments controversy ]

Ms Murphy said the expenditure on consultancies was in addition to other costs incurred in relation to the reports into RTÉ following the widespread controversy last year over spending and payments to contractors at the broadcaster.

In July 2023, the Government approved an in-depth, root-and-branch examination of RTÉ, including the appointment of two independent expert advisory committees to carry out reviews of governance and culture and of contractor fees, human resources and other matters. It said forensic accountants were also assigned to examine the RTÉ barter account and other off-balance sheet accounts.

“Given the scale and depth of the various components of the examination and the specialist skills required, following procurement competitions, forensic accountants were engaged to carry out the investigation of the RTÉ barter account and a professional services firm was engaged to assist the independent expert advisory committees in the preparation of their reviews,” the department said.

Barter accounts are widely used in the advertising and media sectors, and are intended to allow the recording of services to be exchanged for other services.

[ RTÉ staff told there’s no room to improve at Montrose ]

The Mazars report maintained there was “no valid basis” for several high-profile transactions being paid through the barter account, including €150,000 paid to broadcaster Ryan Tubridy.

The department said that the total cost of preparing all reports was €1,146,315 (inclusive of VAT).

It said in addition to the consultancies, “costs were incurred in relation to legal services provided by McCann Fitzgerald who acted as legal advisers to both expert advisory committees, fees and travel and subsistence payments to three of the members as well as graphic design, printing and translation costs”.

Martin Wall

Martin Wall

Martin Wall is the Public Policy Correspondent of The Irish Times.