Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 27 February 2024

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media

Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

Photo of Niamh SmythNiamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I accept that. Let us just go back over the past eight months. Are you aware, do you know of or have you figures for the number of exit packages which the current director general and the former chair agreed to and approved, including a confidentiality clause? I know you are being told the same as I am being told, that it is the normal run of things, but these are not normal things where you and the Government are trying to bring maximum transparency. Is it really acceptable, in this current climate for RTÉ, to have this notion of confidentiality which effectively protects people? In this case it has arguably protected somebody who has wreaked havoc in the organisation and who had a huge price tag for RTÉ, if my information is correct with regard to the investigation of the actual complaint that was made against them. They were moved sideways, put into a new role - a role that did not exist before - and not only that, they exited after 18 months on a package. It is la-la land stuff.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.