Results 3,981-4,000 of 5,989 for speaker:Paul McAuliffe
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: How many people sign off on it and how is that done?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: That was my next question.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Let me get to that. The first issue is the raising of the credit note. The second question is the issue of RTÉ providing indemnity, and I imagine that providing an indemnity always comes with a cost. Who signs off on an indemnity within RTÉ? Was there a procedure for doing that at the time?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: The business division is, therefore, empowered to provide an indemnity on behalf of RTÉ.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Does Ms Mullooly believe that is a robust enough procedure, given that in this case the business division provided the indemnity and other people should have known about what happened?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Yes.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Surely the failure here was that the broader management team was not aware of all of the pieces? That is RTÉ's argument. When RTÉ provides an indemnity, at the moment that could be provided by the business division and it may be escalated. Are there any procedures for this? An indemnity of €1 million or €2 million could be provided on that basis.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Does Ms Mullooly accept that as part of procedures and so on, provision of an indemnity was the key reason the additional two payments had to be made, which is RTÉ's case? If that is-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: It is also provision because if it is not given then you do not need to know about it.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: My question is as follows: have there been any changes in procedures for the provision of indemnities? I am not hearing that there have been.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: Again I think RTÉ should reflect on that.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: I will correct Mr. Bakhurst. It was not in the form of an employment contract; that is the whole problem. It was in the form of a separate commercial agreement that was underwritten.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: That brings me to my third question. In the provision of side letters to commercial contracts, surely they would form part of a single file and all of those would be brought to the senior management team. Is that procedure now in place? Are all commercial contracts brought to the senior management team, where previously it was the executive committee?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: No, that is not the question. The question was about all commercial agreements. Do not forget that the tripartite agreement was a commercial agreement.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: If, in the morning, RTÉ facilitated tripartite agreements for all of its top ten presenters-----
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: No. If, in the morning, individuals in RTÉ created tripartite agreements for every one of its top ten presenters, that document and any side letters would not necessarily be brought to the senior management team.
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: My question is if all side letters and the legal contracts should be treated as one bundle. Is that the case now?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: The next point relates to the signature and the finalisation of contracts. There were wholly unacceptable practices here where contracts were agreed and then signatures were only applied much later. Were procedures in place that related to following up on signatures of contracts or completion of contractual arrangements? Who within RTÉ would have been responsible for that?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: My question was as follows: was that a breach of existing procedures or an absence of procedure?
- Public Accounts Committee: Appropriation and Expenditure of Public Moneys by RTÉ (Resumed): Discussion (12 Oct 2023)
Paul McAuliffe: I take it that RTÉ has put in place measures relating to the barter account such that more than one person or division must sign off on spending and so on and that there will not be-----