Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy very much for his questions. I acknowledge what he is saying about double standards in RTÉ, with people at the top applying one set of rules to some among them and a different set to others in the organisation. I want to point out two relevant facts of importance.

From the information we to date, of the top ten or top 20 personalities in RTÉ it appears that only one received a clandestine payment. It is important that we do not cast aspersions on the other nine or ten people who could be described as being at the top of the organisation. It is also important to point out that this matter was exposed by the external auditors hired by RTÉ to look at its own accounts. This is not a whistleblower situation. This is a situation of an external audit actually functioning. It is important to make that point too.

I do not believe four weeks is adequate. The executives at the committee today should explain why it should take four weeks to put this information in the public domain or at least explain why it should take four weeks, because I do not understand that and the Minister does not understand that either. We have made that clear. The proposal of the Government is to establish an external review to look at the governance and culture of the RTÉ organisation. The Minister reserves her position as to whether that will take the form of somebody being appointed to do that or whether she will use those particular powers under the Act to appoint a relevant person.

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