Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

On 7 May this year, the Government accepted in principle 116 recommendations made by the expert advisory committees appointed to carry out reviews of RTÉ relating to governance and culture, contractor fees, HR and other matters. The re-assignment of the Comptroller and Auditor General as auditor of RTÉ was a key recommendation of the expert advisory committee on governance and culture, which was chaired by Professor Niamh Brennan, and it is a recommendation that I have strongly welcomed. It has also been recommended by the Public Accounts Committee.

On 25 June, I published an implementation plan setting out how my Department would give effect to the 15 recommendations made by the expert advisory committees, which fall to my Department to implement. The plan identified eight recommendations that require amendments to the Broadcasting Act 2009. In accordance with the implementation plan, my Department is currently finalising the general scheme of a broadcasting (amendment) Bill to reassign the Comptroller and Auditor General as auditor of RTÉ and to reform the legislative basis for the corporate governance of both RTE and TG4. This will include provisions to strengthen the authority, role and functions of their boards and enhance the accountability of the directors general to the boards.

While I agree with the broad principle of the Deputy's Private Member’s Bill, it does not address the range of corporate governance matters made by the expert advisory committees. Importantly, the Deputy's Bill does not contain a provision to make the director general of RTÉ accountable to the public accounts committee for RTÉ’s financial statements or value-for-money matters. Without such a provision, the committee cannot hold the director general to account for these matters.

My Department has been consulting with the Department of Public Expenditure, NDP Delivery and Reform, and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the reassignment of the Comptroller and Auditor General. My Department has also been engaging with the Office of the Attorney General.

My objective is to bring forward a general scheme of broadcasting (amendment) Bill this autumn as a single, comprehensive Bill. As I have said, this will provide not only for the reassignment of the Comptroller and Auditor General as auditor, but also for a range of corporate governance reforms to drive further accountability, transparency and value for money in our public service media providers.

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