Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

Cuirim fáilte roimh an deis seo labhairt le Seanad Éireann ar an mBille seo. I dtosach baire ba mhaith liorn aitheantas a thabhairt don méid oibre atá déanta ag an Seanadóir Mullen ar an mBille. I welcome the opportunity to speak to Seanad Éireann on this Bill. I wish to begin by acknowledging the work that Senator Mullen has done on it. Before addressing the substance of the Bill, I to take the opportunity to reiterate what I said in the Lower House yesterday and address some of the further revelations we have heard today.

As I outlined earlier, I have spoken to the chair of the board of RTÉ today and received an outline of the board's position, particularly around the deeply unsatisfactory nature in which information is being provided by the executive. She informed me that the board has now written to the deputy director general and the incoming director general outlining that this is totally unacceptable and that it has eroded their trust and confidence in the executive. In this context, the board has requested that swift action be taken. As we have been hearing, the chair has been addressing these issues further at the Joint Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media. I absolutely understand that erosion of confidence. It is imperative that full clarity on these, and all issues, be forthcoming without any further delay.I am bringing my meeting with the chair of the RTÉ board, the interim deputy director general and the incoming director general forward to tomorrow. Public service broadcasting is fundamentally based on trust, the trust between a broadcaster and its audience, the trust between a national institution and the people of the country and between a State body and the Oireachtas. For RTÉ, it is a trust that has been built over many decades. It is a trust that fundamentally rests on the organisation being open, transparent and accountable to the Government, to the Oireachtas and ultimately, to the public. The public rightly expect much higher standards of transparency and accountability from RTÉ and it is unacceptable that these have not been there. It is now essential that public trust in RTÉ is restored.

The further revelations that have come to light, including in the information that has been furnished to the joint Oireachtas committee over the past days, have illustrated just how pervasive and deep-seated the governance and other failings in RTÉ have been. It is essential that we confront the governance structure and organisational culture in RTÉ that has enabled these failings so we can prevent them from occurring in the future.

In the context of the issues raised by the Senator today and concerns that have been raised with me by the RTÉ trade union group, it is also essential that we address the issue of contractor pay and other human resources issues in RTÉ. That is why the Government yesterday approved an independent root and branch examination of RTÉ. It will be composed of two parallel elements, incorporating a review of governance and culture and a review of contractor fees, human resources and other matters. The reviews will be overseen by two expert advisory committees which will be assisted by professional services and will be supported by a team drawn from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sports and Media. A process will be put in place to ensure the work of the two expert advisory committees will be carried out in parallel.

I announced yesterday that we would accelerate the procurement process in relation to the professional services that will assist with the reviews, with a view to making an appointment by the end of August. In light of further developments and the urgency of the two reviews, I have asked that this be accelerated even further. The review of culture and governance will be overseen and directed by an expert advisory committee led by Professor Niamh Brennan, who will be joined by Dr. Margaret Cullen and a third member who will be appointed in the coming days. The review of the contractor fees, HR and other matters will be overseen and directed by a committee chaired by Mr. Brendan McGinty and will include Ms Patricia King and a third member, who will be appointed in the coming days. I am grateful to the members of the expert advisory committees for offering their time, expertise and experience. I also intend to invoke my powers under section 109 (7)(a) of the Broadcasting Act 2009 to appoint a forensic accountant service to examine the books or other records of account of RTÉ in respect of any financial year or other periods. The work of the forensic accountant will initially be focused on barter or any other accounts that were off balance sheet within RTÉ. It will also underpin the work of the expert advisory committees.

The further discussions at the joint Oireachtas committee this afternoon demonstrate the urgency of appointing the forensic accountant as soon as possible. We have accelerated the procurement process in relation to the appointment of a forensic accountant with a view now to making an appointment early next week. I am conscious that the joint Oireachtas committee and the Committee of Public Accounts will be continuing their deliberations regarding RTÉ and may be hearing more from the members of the RTÉ board and executive. In addition, as I set out earlier, the Chair of the RTÉ board confirmed earlier today that they will initiate a further Grant Thornton investigation of Toy Show -The Musical.

I am prepared, if necessary, to extend the terms of reference of the examination to take account of any further issues that come to light, whether in the course of the reviews, the work of the committees or from other sources.

The Bill proposed by the Senator addresses a number of issues that will form part of the matters that will be subject to the independent examination announced yesterday. Given the scale of the failings in RTÉ that have been uncovered, it is vital that the response is comprehensive and far reaching and underpinned by transparent and rigorous analysis. For that reason, it would be prudent to defer further consideration of the Bill until the findings and recommendations of the independent examination is considered by the Government and a comprehensive response has been considered and agreed by the Government. Accordingly, the Government agreed that a timed amendment of 12 months to this Bill is necessary.

Turning to the specifics of the Bill, it would prohibit both RTÉ and TG4 from entering into contracts with employees or contractors, which involve remuneration which exceeds the salary of a Government Minister. That is currently €195,000. I fully understand the reasoning behind this proposal in light of the revelations over the past period. The public rightly want accountability from senior executives in RTÉ over this scandal. They also want assurances that pay at all levels in RTÉ is appropriate and reflects that the services provided by RTÉ should have, as required by the Broadcasting Act 2009, the character of a public service.