John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Having participated in almost nine hours of committee meetings last week when Oireachtas Members questioned various RTÉ executives, I am disappointed at how little regarding what has happened or who is responsible has been unearthed, although what has been exposed at both the media committee and the Committee of Public Accounts has been absolutely shocking, to say the least. If I had a euro for every person who told me over the weekend that they will not pay their TV licence fee on foot of what has happened, I would be a very wealthy person, probably able to fund RTÉ into the future. That is how much damage has been done to public confidence in the national broadcaster.

We are currently very aware of the dangers arising from the level of misinformation disseminated online, and of a public broadcasting body’s role and responsibility in countering the wall of untruths designed to cause maximum disruption and upheaval throughout communities. I hope those at the centre of this scandal at RTÉ will reflect on the potential damage their actions have wrought and will seek to remedy the matter with the truth to allow for a full reform of the public broadcaster to take place. I have found it especially disappointing that, to date, neither committee has heard evidence from Dee Forbes, Ryan Tubridy or Noel Kelly, the central figures of this affair.

It has been clear from the outset that a cosy consensus and an insider culture exist within RTÉ and have done so in Irish public bodies for far too long. Individuals at the heart of RTÉ have been allowed to act in a manner they saw fit, accountable to no one, in a culture absent of anything approaching an appropriate level of oversight or governance. Last week, there was an outpouring of anger and absolute frustration from ordinary journalists and other workers within RTÉ. We were told of the constraints they are forced to labour under as the fat cats at the top of RTÉ live their best lives, concealing payments and enjoying global sporting trips at taxpayers' expense, at a time when workers at RTÉ were being told by management that the station was in a serious state of financial trouble, with many staff forced into bogus self-employment contracts.

The existence of a slush fund has been uncovered to the value of €1.25 million, which was used to top up the salary of one of the already grossly overpaid presenters through a complex scheme designed to conceal payments, from which Ryan Tubridy benefited by more than €150,000 over two of those years. These payments were allegedly approved by the then director general Dee Forbes. Other payments from this slush fund include €111,000 to send the commercial director and five others to the Rugby World Cup in Japan in 2019. There was €18,500 per head spent on this junket, €138,000 was spent on ten-year IRFU tickets, €26,000 was spent on a Champions League final in 2019, there were tickets and buses to a U2 concert for clients, RTÉ management and their spouses. There was also golf, wining, dining at the K Club. That is only the tip of the iceberg that we know about at this stage.

At the Committee of Public Accounts, and at the media committee, I asked for the barter accounts going back to 2012 to be submitted. I welcome the appointment by the Minister of a forensic accountant and I look forward to seeing what is unearthed by that work. I believe that those responsible for the scandal at RTÉ need to be made to face the consequences of their actions. The drip-feeding of information that we were treated to last week needs to end. We need full accounting of what has occurred at RTÉ. There needs to be full transparency, full accountability, and far-reaching reform. Witnesses cannot be allowed to continue to hide from their actions. They need to be compelled to appear before the Committee of Public Accounts. First and foremost, Dee Forbes must answer the allegations that have been made against her. While I welcome the announcement of the establishment of the two separate reviews into RTÉ, it is important that the Opposition parties get full sight of the terms of reference that the Minister has announced, to ensure there is the full level of robustness required. I questioned the members of the RTÉ executive board last Thursday as to whether Ryan Tubridy's decision to resign was influenced by the fact that the concerns raised by the auditors from Deloitte around the invoices to Mr. Tubridy were leaked. I was told by an executive member that it was.

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