James O'Connor (Cork East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

What has transpired over the past number of weeks has been deeply disturbing. It has done enormous damage to the reputation of our national broadcaster. I do not very often agree with some of the points made by Deputy Boyd Barrett but he was correct in much of what he said about the outstanding questions that still need to be answered, in addition to the importance of having a national broadcaster that is in every way impartial when it comes to the broadcast of political views. What is so special about the product RTÉ has offered through its current affairs department is that every voice in the House should get representation. Whether it is the left, the centre or the right, there should be a mechanism for those views to be broadcast in a democratic way. I want to avoid at all costs, and this point was made by Deputy Boyd Barrett, having conglomerates going in to purchase every media outlet. That has happened in the private sector, which is why it is important to protect RTÉ as an entity. It is to everybody's benefit who is in some way stable in their political view. I am somebody who regards myself as an individual of the centre. I do not look down upon those who have different political views from me but, in an open democracy where there is freedom of speech, it is important to have a system in place where everybody's views are heard. That is absolutely important.

The damage done by the RTÉ executive board's decision-making, in cahoots with the likes of Noel Kelly and others who were involved in negotiating these very lucrative contracts, has been despicable. If I were to use one word following last week's proceedings of the Committee of Public Accounts, it would not be "anger" but "upset" at seeing careers being destroyed by the contents of that meeting, and the reputation of some of our most well-known broadcasters in the State being tarnished, unfortunately. It was not pleasant and the sad truth is that a lot more is to come. A number of people have approached me - it is not appropriate for me to go into it now - with information that would make your jaw drop. Above all else, disrespect was shown to the Government and the Minister in respect of the gap in timing between a decision to sack the director general of RTÉ and informing the Minister of that decision. That absolutely beggars belief.

I see and have often commented on the disrespect shown by certain civil servants within certain elements of the State, whether through semi-State bodies or other organisations, and the utter disregard they have for the people elected to the House. People are not always content with what their politicians say and do, but we are ultimately accountable to them. We are their representatives in these types of situations. Those who decided not to attend the Oireachtas committees should be ashamed of themselves. Each person is entitled to their own view. I am not referring to Dee Forbes in that regard. I wish her well in her recovery. I hope she will be in a position to come before the Committee of Public Accounts and the media committee. It has to be done.

I will also refer to the situation around potential external Government-appointed auditors being approved and worked on by the Cabinet. It would be highly damaging if that were used as an instrument to close down the debate. The committees of both Houses have work to do in getting to the bottom of the outstanding questions. It is in the best interests of RTÉ to get to a point of zero and rebuild from there rather than allowing a review process to come in and shut it down. We saw that last week with the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board. A big bubble was put out there. Nobody has a notion of what is going on in that organisation and, effectively, we are left with pie in the sky and being able to assume anything we bloody want, no matter how dire the situation is. We have no idea what is going on. We cannot allow that to happen with RTÉ because of the entity it is, from a reputational point of view, and the standard it needs to set. That has to be said.

I will refer to another important matter. What came out as regards expenses in RTÉ was sickening. Some €275,000 was spent on junkets. It can be imagined what would happen if Members did that. The place would be burned down but RTÉ could get away with it. It came down to an attitude and entitlement that the senior executives in RTÉ could do whatever they wanted because it was not their money. However, it was the public's money. It was public money that was squandered on junkets. There is no justification for sending the commercial director - we do not yet know who else was with her but we will find out - all the way to Japan to watch a rugby match. More than €17,000 per person was spent on that. If anyone in the House did that, we would be lynched and rightly so - I will be clear that I mean that metaphorically. That was the bottom of the barrel. I will not even go into the rest of it in respect of the IRFU and so on and so forth. If it was IDA Ireland that was working on bringing in international companies and other agencies involved in foreign direct investment, where there was actual justification for the use of that money for that type of work, fair enough, but RTÉ did not have anything in that regard. On this old nonsense about client entertainment, the platform that is RTÉ is so because of the people who want to engage with it.

The advertisers, as a matter of fact, should have been coming to the RTÉ executive board and not the other way around. I do not buy that. There is no basis for that argument. That point has to be put across as well. There was no barter account. If anything, it was a banter account that was used for fun and entertainment from the public's purse. Ultimately, that is wrong.

The disrespect that was shown to the staff within the organisation, the full-time employees of RTÉ, was staggering. Mr. Robert Shortt's presentation to the Committee of Public Accounts was telling in regard to how little awareness there was of this culture, which I described as a Celtic tiger-esque or Las Vegas-style culture, that a certain privileged few in the RTÉ organisation enjoyed. I must call out how little they thought of their own people. I thought an awful lot of the presenters, despite their very high earnings. I am not knocking them. They are talented people who have a job to do in the organisation. That is my personal opinion and view and one I am not trying to force on anyone. Those presenters who came forward to clarify what their pay is made a clever and brave move when it comes to the trustworthiness of the organisation. That has to be commended as well.

The previous chief financial officer and those who have been involved in commercial deals in the past would all be better off, in the interests of RTÉ and the employees in the organisation, coming before the media committee and Committee of Public Accounts and answering the questions. Otherwise, we will drag this out so that it rolls on for years and causes huge pain.

Deputy Barry made a point about the TV licence. The number of people who have approached me and said they have no intention of paying the licence is hugely concerning. Ultimately, the Exchequer will have to fill in the gap, which means the public will pay. That is the sad truth of what these gangsters have caused by their actions. I was sickened when I left the committee meeting the other day. It was much worse than anything I had anticipated to have to listen to. There is anger at a grassroots level. By "grassroots level", I mean the researchers, runners and everybody else involved in RTÉ. During the week, a number of cameramen out on the beat pulled me aside in Cork and Dublin and shared stories of dismay and disappointment with me. I was having dinner with my family in Dublin last week. They were up here. I was pulled aside in the restaurant by family members who have family working in RTÉ. They shared their worry about the future of the organisation. This all comes back to the greed at the centre. That message has to be put across.

My last point, which I do not often share, is that I have a big interest in the arts and I love music. I play music and have had a lifelong interest in it. I have a message for RTÉ and the Government. There is information in the media about RTÉ selling its silverware, whether that is 2FM or Lyric FM, which I understand is a profitable radio station. I beg the Government not to rush down that particular road because there are entities in RTÉ in which fantastic people are working. They deserve the support of the House and the Government when it comes to promoting the arts, which is a slogan or phrase that RTÉ often uses. They cannot be the ones to suffer as a consequence of all of this wrongdoing.

In summary, the more information that comes out, the faster it comes out and the greater the transparency in relation to what has happened in RTÉ, the faster will be the process of rebuilding the trust of the public. As I said in relation to independent auditors or whatever steps the Government may take, I would caution the Minister in that regard. Compellability and the instruments available to the committees are the route that must be pursued. It is in the public interest to do so. All we are trying to do is identify what the public wants to know. We are not guilty in any regard for that. That is all I have to say.

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