Results 961-980 of 2,638 for speaker:Christopher O'Sullivan

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: You are laying all the blame in terms of the contracts and the agreements at the feet of the former Director General?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: We know what happened. I must move on. I want to know what other documents you examined. Your statement is contradicted by the former Director General's statement. Your statement basically sets out that the former Director General was the only one who had all the relevant information, but the former Director General's statement states, "Following detailed discussions including numerous...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Okay, so you were aware of the underwriting and guarantee part?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Were any of the seven witnesses here today aware of the guarantee element of the third-party payment?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Did any of the executive board outside-----

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I am going to come back to that. There was mention of pushback against this approach of the underwriting and the guarantee. Who was pushing back? Did someone have a conversation with the former Director General and say they did not think this underwriting and guarantee approach was the right way to go?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Who was aware that the underwriting guarantee approach was one that the Director General was looking at?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Did you, at any point, advise the Director General that this guarantee or underwriting of payments was not the way to go?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Did you or anyone on the executive board advise the Director General that RTÉ should not proceed with this underwriting guarantee of a third-party payment?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: It is lawful, but it is completely unethical, as we know.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: That is still very muddy. There is talk about pushback and awareness of some members. Obviously, the director of content is not here today, but apparently, according to the statement, he was kept informed of elements of the agreement. Do we know what he was informed of? Was he informed of that guarantee underwriting element?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Okay, so there was an awareness that the agent wanted a guarantee on the executive board-----

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: -----but nobody thought to check for it after, during the years 2020, 2021 and 2022, even though it was mentioned and there was an awareness of it?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: We know how it works. My concern is that there was awareness that this was potentially an approach. There was awareness that this was a request from the agent, but no one sought to keep checks on it, to enquire, to ask whether the Director General had stuck with that approach or not, and therefore we are in this position. I do not think there can be complete absolution from involvement...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: You were aware.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: Did the term "consultancy fees" not jump out at you at that point?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: I thought you raised the invoices in May 2021 and 2022.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: If your office, that you obviously oversee, knew that invoices pertaining to the payment of Mr. Tubridy containing the phrase "consultancy fees" had been raised, and I am not sure what Mr. Tubridy would be providing consultancy for, would that not have raised flags?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: But you knew the invoices pertained to the payment of Mr. Tubridy.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (28 Jun 2023)

Christopher O'Sullivan: You say you did not see the invoices directly yourself. Again, I think it is seriously concerning that there was such a lack of oversight within your office. Clearly, there were not the checks and balances to see that. I think it beggars belief, to be honest, that the term "consultancy fees" on an invoice that pertained to the payment of Mr. Tubridy was not flagged at the time.