Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Despite the publication yesterday of a lengthy statement from RTÉ we still lack clarity on a number of important questions. We have no clarification, for example, as to why the payments made to Ryan Tubridy were consistently understated. We have been asked to believe the incredible allegation, which the Taoiseach said he does not believe to be credible, that out of all the senior management at RTÉ, only Dee Forbes knew the full picture regarding additional payments made. Yesterday, I noted that we are all in the dark, including, it seems, the Government and the Taoiseach, and we are still in the dark today. However, what I want to focus on today are the people who are most hurt by this breach of trust, namely, the workers at RTÉ, the staff and employees who give their all to deliver accurate, impartial information to all of us, because public service broadcasting matters. It matters to us as democrats, as citizens, as taxpayers and as members of a society with a fundamental stake in knowing that a trusted media organisation can provide us with accurate reporting. It matters to the RTÉ employees. The heartbreak was audible in the voices of those who so bravely spoke out at the solidarity protest organised by RTÉ employees yesterday. I offer my own solidarity and that of the Labour Party with all of those employees, with the National Union of Journalists, NUJ, and its representatives in RTÉ, and the workers who spoke so eloquently about their sense of betrayal at the breach of trust. As the Taoiseach said, they spoke about the double standard apparently operating and the fact there appear to be special payments for special people within RTÉ while others languish on bogus self-employment contracts or on poor terms and conditions. As Emma O’Kelly put it, it is unbelievable that someone who was earning €440,000 per year needed to get more money and to get it in secret. Paul Cunningham spoke about how freelancers in RTÉ are paid a pittance, by contrast. They are continually told, “We do not have the money to support you - take it or leave it.”

My first question related to workers' rights is, will the external review focus on the need to ensure equity within RTÉ? Will it focus on an end to special payments for special people, an end to third-party presenter negotiations and a cap on presenters' pay? My second question also relates to workers' rights. It is about the apparently widespread use of bogus self-employment contracts, about which Deputy Nash and Senator Sherlock and I have raised issues for years. Such contracts deprive workers of security, maternity pay, benefits and holiday entitlements. They are simply wrong in an institution, particularly where we see this level of inequity. Will the external review focus on that too? We know now there were repeated attempts by management at RTÉ to block the delivery to trade unions of a report into culture at RTÉ. A report was produced last year with alarming findings, especially on gender discrimination. The report was finally released only after the NUJ went to the information commissioner in regard to multiple requests. I understand none of its important recommendations, including those on gender, have yet been implemented. Will the external review also look at the need to implement the recommendations of that report into culture in RTÉ?

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