Results 921-940 of 2,648 for speaker:Malcolm Byrne

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: In the past nine months.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: As a proportion, roughly. You have a pretty large brief.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: Would it be fair to say that a quarter of your----

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: How often would you have had contact with the chair since last July? Would it have been weekly? Would these be just occasional phone calls or regular meetings?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: Would it be fair to say you would have had monthly engagements, a formal sit-down meeting, and then your officials would have been in contact regularly? It is probably fair to say that, during certain weeks, you were probably talking to the chair three, four or five times a week.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: You have indicated that you had a pretty good working relationship with the chair and the team there. We have seen the catastrophe in RTÉ that was in many ways inherited by the former chair and the current director general. Are you and were you broadly happy with the direction in which the director general and the chair had been bringing the organisation? I totally acknowledge they...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: Okay. I have to say and I am disagreeing with some colleagues here, I have confidence in Kevin Bakhurst. I do not agree with everything necessarily. I think he has made some missteps, but it is important from this committee to say, in the interests of the staff who are there and in the interests of the independent production sector, but indeed for public service broadcasting, at the end of...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: It was getting to a pretty difficult situation. I cannot accept, Minister, that you would go on "Prime Time" not expecting the question as to whether you have confidence in the chair. I am pretty certain that whoever would have advised you would have said to you in advance if you were prepared for this question.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: I want to come back to questions my colleague, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan was asking earlier. It seems to be that where your confidence was broken was around this issue where you had serious concerns about the information that was made available. You had said to Siún Ní Raghallaigh as chair that you were going to put those concerns in a letter to her, and Siún Ní...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: Is that not effectively the case then, that the chair had basically said she was going to resign?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: I appreciate that, Minister, but if the chair was to say to you she was going to resign if you sent her that letter, surely at that stage you knew that was it.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: Your chair came back to you and said, "If you send that letter I am going to resign." What is the point of having a meeting on the Friday morning if the chair had already indicated she was going to resign?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: I appreciate you saying it was so astounding, but ultimately the chair is your link and reports to you. If it is so astounding, would you not just say this is it, this is the end of the relationship?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: This is where I come to the question of a breakdown in communication and trust. Essentially what you are telling us is there was a breakdown in trust. If there was a breakdown in communication, that happens quite often and there can be clarity. Here you are saying there was something astounding said to you by the chair. The chair was saying, "You send a letter and I am going to resign."...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: You said earlier, however, there were a number of instances where you did not feel you were getting accurate information. To suddenly come to this conclusion I just find difficult. Given the close relationship between the director general and the chair and the support she enjoyed from the board which is now evident, did it occur to the Minister that there was a serious risk of the director...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: The Minister has indicated that she has full confidence in the director general of RTÉ and the direction in which he is taking the organisation. Does the Minister have full confidence in the board of RTÉ as well?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: I have two questions on future issues. One is the intention to appoint a new chair. Are discussions going on about this? Will he or she be an interim chair? Is there a decision to have a full-time or part-time chair in place? When will that appointment be made? My second point is on the bigger-picture issue. When does the Minister intend to bring a paper to the Cabinet regarding the...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: Is it correct to say that the Minister is sounding out individuals out at the moment?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: We certainly share that view. Will we see movement on this by April or May?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Oversight of RTÉ's Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues and Plans for Longer-term Support and Funding for Public Service Media: Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media (27 Feb 2024)

Malcolm Byrne: I am conscious and appreciative, Minister, that you and your officials have come before us to address this issue. From having listened to it, what is clear is that there was a breakdown in trust between yourself and the chair. When there is a breakdown in trust between a Minister and a chair, with respect, there is only one eventual outcome, namely, that the chair is likely to have to go....