Results 161-180 of 776 for at speaker:Malcolm Byrne

Seanad: Disability (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2023: Second Stage (11 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: Senator Clonan is a reasonable person. He will be perfectly happy if the Minister comes in here and looks at debating a lot of the issues within the legislation. I am certain the Minister of State will be quite happy to go through this on Committee Stage to look at how we can improve and develop the legislation. The Leader is very happy that we table lots of debates. Everybody in this...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: I thank the Chair and the witnesses. It is fair to say Mr. Tubridy and I know each other a long time. We were in UCD together and we were friendly at the time. I know how committed he is to radio. Even back then he was deeply committed to broadcasting. There is a passion there and everybody recognises his talents. This is obviously having a big personal impact on him.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: Am I correct? The declared figures that were published at the time were for 2017, €491,667; for 2018, €495,000; and for 2019, €495,000.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: I appreciate that but I am looking at it the way a normal person looks at their annual salary.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: So you were negotiating at the time of the 2020 contract.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: At the time everyone in RTÉ was accepting there were going to be cuts.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (11 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: At the same time, Mr. Kelly made sure, and it was he who made sure, that RTÉ underwrote the deal.

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: My apologies for running late. There was the minor matter of sitting on the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media, where there may be one or two situations going on that clashed with this debate. I also held a briefing on CERN at lunchtime. As someone observed, speaking about black holes and explosive revelations does not just apply to CERN in Leinster House today. I...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: Yes, but we could land people in a great deal of difficulty by doing that. The system needs to be administered easily. As part of this process, I suggest that there be consultation with the graduates and student unions of the institutions, the Irish Universities Association, the Union of Students in Ireland and so on so that we can arrive at a model. I hope that we see this legislation...

Seanad: Seanad Electoral (University Members) (Amendment) Bill 2020: Committee Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: The Minister and I were, although I am sure we cannot quite remember what was going on in our lives at that time. There have been many graduates since then. I ask the Minister to please expedite this legislation and ensure that, when the next Seanad elections happen, graduates from other institutions will finally have a vote.

Seanad: Broadcasting (Restriction of Salaries) Bill 2023: Second Stage (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire. I thank the Minister and sympathise with her. She has a broad brief and various responsibilities. She and her officials have been dealing quite a lot with questions around RTÉ over recent weeks, as our Oireachtas media committee has. My colleagues, Senators Carrigy and Warfield, are regular attendees at the committee and we do not tend to get as much...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: I thank our secretariat, and I am quite certain there were many people in RTÉ working on this as well because quite a lot of documentation had to be prepared for today. We are still going through much of it. I am grateful that it has been provided. One of the elements relates to the pay scales of the top 100 within RTÉ. That includes, with regard to those paid at senior...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: I appreciate that but I am looking at Mr. Lynch's direct answers to my questions last week. I asked who was in the room with Noel Kelly and he made clear that the CFO, somebody from the legal department and the director general were in the room for the negotiations with Noel Kelly at all times. I wish to ask Ms O'Keeffe whether it is correct that at all times in the negotiations with Noel...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: Yes, the RTÉ solicitor would be aware as well as the director general. Was there anybody else aware of the contract, as far as Ms O'Keeffe knew at the time?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: Would he have raised it with the executive board at the time? Did Jim Jennings bring up the Renault deal at the executive board level at any stage?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: The Renault deal. I suppose that is what we are looking at.

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: Everyone remembers what was happening in Covid. We remember that people from RTÉ came before this committee and the Government gave significant wage supports to RTÉ. The difficulty we have is that we were misled at the time around some of the financial arrangements. The wage subsidies were about trying to protect employment. People were taking salary cuts and yet, arguably - I...

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: In March 2023. Nobody would have alerted Ms Doherty at any stage that there were questions about the figures that had been put into the public domain?

Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport And Media: Transparency of RTÉ Expenditure of Public Funds and Governance Issues: Discussion (Resumed) (5 Jul 2023)

Malcolm Byrne: Perhaps we may come back to the auditors question. I wish to ask, briefly, about Toy Show The Musical. Ms Doherty is one of the most experienced theatre producers and content creators in the country. Was Ms Doherty consulted around Toy Show The Musical at any stage?