John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein)
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Good afternoon to our guests. I will continue on the issue of RTÉ but with a focus on the bogus self-employment that was not only rife in RTÉ but, unfortunately, in many other areas across the State. We know that in 2018, RTÉ commissioned an independent review of the employment status of 433 contractors at the station to determine whether they had been misclassified as self-employed. We know the report by Eversheds Sutherland found that 106 contracts had attributes akin to employment, following which 81 of the contractors identified were eventually offered full-time contracts with RTÉ. I believe 79 of the affected workers accepted that offer. We know a tax settlement was made with the Revenue Commissioners to the tune of €1.22 million following a review by that office. Recently, an offer was made to and accepted by 61 staff to address their unfair treatment by RTÉ. Different sums were paid out to some of those staff and some of them sent a letter to the Minister expressing concerns about the pressure they felt they were under to accept the deal that was put before them. I want to ask about an audit being undertaken by the Department of Social Protection regarding the misclassification of the contractors employed by RTÉ. Are the witnesses able to provide an update on that audit?