Results 181-200 of 3,673 for speaker:Ciarán Cannon

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

Ciarán Cannon: I thank Ms Ní Raghallaigh.

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

Ciarán Cannon: Earlier on a question was asked of Mr. Lynch whether he intended to establish a register of external interests for employees and contractors within RTÉ. Looking at Tim Davie, when he was first appointed in his role as director general of the BBC in September 2020, within a couple of months such a register was established for the very same reasons I believe RTÉ should establish one....

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

Ciarán Cannon: If you have someone who is a senior, significant journalist broadcaster within RTÉ, and on a Saturday night he is doing a gig for a bank and on Monday morning he is chairing a conversation about banking policy, it is absolutely crucial that the members of the public know that that individual has a commercial relationship with a bank external to RTÉ and his judgment on these matters...

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

Ciarán Cannon: But right now the public is not aware of those declarations.

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

Ciarán Cannon: Perhaps I am mistaken in my recollection but I thought I heard Mr. Collins say last week that the barter account or accounts were not under the control of the CFO. That was his understanding.

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

Ciarán Cannon: Yet, Ms O'Keeffe seemed to indicate that in her time, before the arrival of Mr. Collins, she was very much aware of the barter accounts and they were very much accounted for within her financial scrutiny of the organisation on a yearly basis.

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

Ciarán Cannon: Can we-----

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

Ciarán Cannon: You can understand the public's difficulty if an outgoing CFO said they very much were within the remit of her and her-----

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

Ciarán Cannon: Have any of the barter accounts been used for personal staff remuneration?

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

Ciarán Cannon: I refer to timelines. On 7 March, Deloitte contacted CFO, Richard Collins, about an issue on 7 March; on 8 March, the former DG, Dee Forbes, was informed there is an issue; on 17 March, the commercial director, Geraldine O'Leary, was contacted by Deloitte; on 21 March, Deloitte met the audit and risk committee, ARC; and sometime in April, Grant Thornton began its assessment or scrutiny.

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

Ciarán Cannon: My apologies. While all of this is ongoing and there was knowledge across the organisation of a serious discrepancy from an accounting perspective, the board went ahead with its recruitment and appointment of Kevin Bakhurst as the incoming DG. It announced it on 18 April, despite a serious audit issue hanging over the outgoing DG, Dee Forbes, and RTÉ's highest-paid presenter just...

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

Ciarán Cannon: Can Ms Anne O’Leary recall when exactly Grant Thornton began that audit in April?

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

Ciarán Cannon: Can the committee see those terms of reference? Can they be made available to us?

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

Ciarán Cannon: RTÉ, the entity, issued a statement last week that long-term agreements, LTAs, are not in breach of competition law. Did the witnesses seek legal advice on this before they made that statement and can we see it if they did?

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

Ciarán Cannon: Those rebates, I understand, are passed on based on the volume of spend a particular advertiser might have with RTÉ. Have rebates been made to the Government or any State agencies as a result of the very significant spend we would have accrued, particularly during the pandemic?

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

Ciarán Cannon: They are funnelled through the agencies.

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

Ciarán Cannon: It is not a concern of yours, to be honest. That is the way you see it. You make the rebate available to the agency and from then on, it is the agency's responsibility.

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

Ciarán Cannon: Finally, I refer to Soho House, which is an interesting expenditure item on the list of many expenditure items. It is an exclusive private members’ club in London. I have no issue, and I am sure the licence payers of Galway East have no issue, with a credible return on investment. One can argue that every investment Ms O’Leary made in terms of attracting and retaining...

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

Ciarán Cannon: Is it RTÉ's intention to retain that membership on an ongoing basis?

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

Ciarán Cannon: I understand, Ms O’Leary does not know. Can I ask perhaps Mr. Lynch or Mr. Collins if it is RTÉ’s intention to retain that membership and does it see value in retaining that membership? One can have meetings in a hotel boardroom without having to retain an ongoing annual membership of one of the most exclusive clubs in London city.