Paul Lawless (Mayo, Aontú)
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11. To ask the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment the immediate financial and governance sanctions that will be applied to the RTÉ board and senior management following the recent discovery of further irregular payments and unauthorised disbursements; and when the proposed legislation to assign the Comptroller and Auditor General as RTÉ's auditor will be fully enacted to restore public confidence. [64503/25]

Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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RTÉ’s 2024 Annual Report and Financial Statements were presented to Government on 29 October and subsequently laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas and published by RTÉ.

Prior to their submission, my Department requested NewERA to undertake a review of the financial statements. During this review, RTÉ provided additional information regarding several legacy issues which came to light following an internal RTÉ review of systems and procedures within the broadcaster. This included information relating to historic severance and pension related payments.

I met with the Chair of the RTÉ Board on 6 November, who provided further information and clarity on the issues raised. At that meeting, the Chair confirmed to me that there was no question of any of the historic payments having been made without proper authorisation. Indeed, that these issues came to light following such an internal review is evidence of the commitment to improved internal control, and transparency, within RTÉ.

On 7 May 2024, the Government accepted in principle the 116 recommendations of the Expert Advisory Committees appointed to carry out reviews of RTÉ in relation to Governance and Culture, and Contractor Fees, HR and Other Matters. At the same time, a report by Mazars, who had been appointed as the forensic accountant to examine RTÉ’s accounts, was also published.

The re-assignment of the Comptroller and Auditor General as auditor of RTÉ was a key recommendation of the Expert Advisory Committee on Governance and Culture.

The General Scheme of the Broadcasting (Amendment) Bill which I published last April provides that the Comptroller and Auditor General will undertake the following activities in relation to RTÉ:

• carry out an audit of the annual accounts under section 5 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993;
• carry out, where the Comptroller and Auditor General considers it appropriate, a value-for-money examination under section 9 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993;
• submit, under section 11 of the Comptroller and Auditor General (Amendment) Act 1993, any resulting audit or special reports.