RTÉ’s former Chief Financial Officer to appear before Oireachtas Media Committee tomorrow

Former Chief Financial Officer of RTÉ Breda O’Keeffe has agreed to appear before the Oireachtas Media Committee tomorrow.

According to documents released last week, Ms O’Keefe was involved in negotiations on Ryan Tubridy’s contract in December 2019, including a financial proposal which outlined an offset of the exit payment due in his previous contract, a 15 per cent cut in fees and reference facilitating a possible additional commercial arrangement - which later became the ‘tripartite agreement’ between Renault, RTÉ and Mr Tubridy at the centre of the controversy.

It comes after the Government has announced a three-pronged review into governance and culture inside RTÉ following revelations about misrepresented pay to broadcaster Ryan Tubridy.

Minister for Media Catherine Martin announced the move after Cabinet on Tuesday, indicating the outcome of the investigations may not conclude until next February or March.

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A forensic accountant will be appointed, will be ready to begin work in August and will look at RTÉ's barter account and other financial accounts. This forensic accountant will provide an interim report to Ms Martin and will also be available to another two review groups that the Government will now start a procurement process for.

The first strand of the examination will identify any failures or weaknesses in corporate governance or organisational culture that are likely to have contributed to the findings of the Grant Thornton reports commissioned by RTÉ in relation to certain payments and understatements of earnings in the 2017-2019 and 2021-2022 periods.

The members of the Expert Advisory Committee that will oversee this part of the review are Prof Niamh Brennan, Dr. Margaret Cullen and third member to be appointed in the coming days.

They will provide an assessment of “any organisational cultural characteristics and ways of conducting business within RTÉ, including staff morale and engagement, as well as the impact of RTÉ's commercial income activities on its public service remit, identified from the corporate governance review or otherwise, that are likely to have contributed to the findings in the Grant Thornton reviews commissioned by RTÉ in relation to both the 2021-2022 overpayments and 2017-2019 period”.

They will make recommendations to reform organisational culture.

The second strand of the examination will examine concerns around the engagement of RTÉ contractors, including those on short-term employment contracts, and wider HR practices in RTÉ.

[ Fintan O’Toole: Noel Kelly is not Ryan Tubridy’s Father Confessor. He’s his attack dog ]

This strand will be overseen by Brendan McGinty, Patricia King and a third member to be appointed in the coming days.

They will examine the oversight and mechanisms by which RTÉ engages presenters and contractors, including fees, the use of agents, the impact on costs borne by RTÉ and the governance of same.

The third strand is the forensic accountant.

The reviews will take six months from the end of August meaning the final reports may not be ready until next spring.

Elsewhere, former RTÉ chairwoman Moya Doherty has confirmed she will attend a meeting of the Oireachtas Media Committee tomorrow. She also attended a meeting of the Public Accounts Committee last week. However, both former Director General Dee Forbes and current Head of Content Jim Jennings, who are both unwell, will not appear tomorrow.

The remainder of the witnesses are the same as those who came before the committee last week: board members Robert Shortt, chairwoman Siún Ní Raghallaigh and Anne O’Leary, who chairs the board’s Audit and Risk Committee, alongside Rory Coveney, the director of strategy; Richard Collins, chief financial officer; Geraldine O’Leary, director of commercial; and Adrian Lynch, the interim deputy director general who has taken up many of Ms Forbes’s duties temporarily.

[ Noel Kelly: Who is the behind-the-scenes agent, seen as RTÉ's ‘real director general’? ]

Speaking outside Government Buildings on Tuesday, Ms Martin said the “revelations of over almost two weeks have been shattering – they have been an affront to everything that public service broadcasting is meant to stand for”.

“In failing to abide by the standards required of a public service broadcaster, RTÉ has lost the trust of the people and of its own staff. Our job as Government is to help rebuild that trust.

“Public service broadcasting is too important to our democracy, our culture and our society to allow RTÉ to fail. Trust must be restored. RTÉ must restore the values and ideals on which it was founded.”

[ Cliff Taylor: RTÉ’s Bosco accounting involves trip beyond Magic Door ]