Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy on almost everything she has said. Her point about bogus self-employment contracts is valid. She has consistently raised the matter and it is a very serious issue. A significant and comprehensive investigation is under way. The Department of Social Protection commenced that investigation into the PRSI classification of RTÉ contractors. RTÉ provided the Department with a list of 695 workers engaged on a contract basis in 2018, 2019 and 2020. These form the basis of the investigation. It is a significant investigation. This is a very serious issue that potentially undermined the rights of many workers within RTÉ. Decisions have issued in respect of approximately 131 workers. Some 89 workers were found to have employee status to which class A PRSI applies, while 42 workers were found to be self-employed and insurable at class S PRSI. Some 48 decisions have been appealed. It is important that the investigation continues. A total of €1.7 million in compliance has been notified to RTÉ to date and the total liability repaid to date by RTÉ amounts to €1.2 million.

That investigation has to conclude but there is a more fundamental question then in terms of future workforce composition, the rights and entitlements for people working for RTÉ and not applying pressure to workers to declare themselves to be independent contractors when they are doing the same work that they were doing as employees and losing out on entitlements consequent to being full-time employees.

I also agree about the centrality of public service broadcasting. We must not lose sight of that. I agree that there must be full transparency and there should be no secrecy or confidentiality in terms of any package because it is public money. I also accept that for staff on the ground in RTÉ, morale is further undermined by these revelations. The Minister has initiated comprehensive reports into RTÉ on governance and culture, and they will have to form the basis for new structures that will deliver accountability and that will also give confidence and trust to the Oireachtas and to the Government in terms of reforms of the funding system. All along we have been told to rush a decision in respect of a situation that is clearly not satisfactory at the moment. There has to be clear informed light, if you like, and evidence on which to base new decisions in respect of that. I am conscious that in the area of foreign affairs, RTÉ's capacity is significantly reduced in terms of what it can cover and in terms of the complexity and analysis required for what is going on globally in the world today. It is not what it should be, in my view, in terms of public service broadcasting.

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