Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 5 July 2023
Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media
Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed)
Mr. Adrian Lynch:
Yes. Just to explain why legal privilege is very important to RTÉ, obviously, RTÉ has a significant editorial output and we receive legal advice in relation to that. Legal privilege is very important for that, and it is very important for the independence of RTÉ. We have shared, which is important, the fact that it was confirmed to us by the agent via email in March 2023 that the agreement is underwritten by a verbal agreement between Dee Forbes and Noel Kelly. As I said on the first day of giving evidence, when Dee Forbes provided that, it was a commercial decision that came with risks, and that, as DG, she was in her right to do it if she wanted to do it. I worked with Dee Forbes for six or seven years and always found her to be a person of integrity. I do not know why-----
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