Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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328. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of times she has met with or corresponded with the Director General of RTÉ since she took office; and the dates upon which such meetings or correspondences took place. [32164/23]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media I have had occasion to meet the Director General of RTÉ on five occasions, received correspondence on twenty one occasions and sent correspondence on four occasions.

The attached tables provide the dates of my meetings and correspondence with / from the Director General since I took office.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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329. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the number of times she has met with or corresponded with members of the board of RTÉ since she took office; and the dates upon which such meetings or correspondences took place. [32168/23]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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As Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media I met members of the Board on six occasions, received correspondence on fifteen occasions and sent correspondence on twenty two occasions.

The attached tables provide the dates of meetings and correspondence relating to members of the Board regarding RTÉ Board business.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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330. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht the amount of public funding, in money terms, the Government has provided to RTÉ in each of the past ten years and to date in 2023, in tabular form. [32171/23]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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RTÉ operates under a dual funding model, receiving proceeds from revenue generated through the TV Licence system and its own commercial income.

The table below details payments made to RTÉ from TV licence revenue and from additional exchequer funding since 2003. The TV licence revenue comprises funding from licence sales and in respect of free licences.

An additional allocation of €15m in current funding was provided to RTÉ in 2022 in line with the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission.

Payments to RTÉ

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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331. To ask the Minister for Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht when her Department was first alerted to the fact that RTÉ had entered an agreement to guarantee an annual income of €75,000 to an employee (details supplied). [32174/23]

Catherine Martin (Dublin Rathdown, Green Party)
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RTÉ and public service broadcasting have been badly damaged by revelations in relation to RTÉ over the past week. I am extremely concerned at the details which have emerged in a number of RTÉ statements and at the Oireachtas hearings that took place last week.

On Thursday, 22nd June, RTÉ provided me with a copy of their full statement in advance of the Board making its public statement on the matter. I spoke with the Chair of the Authority, shortly before the Statement was published.

Today, Government agreed the terms of reference of an independent examination of RTÉ, and the appointment of two Expert Advisory Committees, composed of experts in their field, to oversee the two different strands of this examination. The examination will be supported by professional services firms engaged by my Department.

I will also invoke my powers under section 109(7)(a) of the Broadcasting Act to appoint a forensic accountant to examine the books or other records of account of RTÉ in respect of any financial year or other period. This will initially direct its focus on the barter account and address any other off-balance sheet accounts.

I have also asked RTÉ to seek to expedite as soon as possible the further report by Grant Thornton in respect of the period 2017-2019

It is critical for RTÉ to engage openly and constructively with the external review and the Oireachtas Committees in relation to these matters, as a first step in restoring the trust of the Irish people in RTÉ and public service broadcasting.