TAIL WAGGING THE DOG HERE

now likely to be the subject of scrutiny, according to a source with knowledge of the report. The focus will turn to whether the RTÉ board fulfilled its duty in questioning the new commercial risk before it was pursued.

Media Minister Catherine Martin will not comment on the report until it’s published today. However, chair of the Media Committee, Fianna Fáil TD Niamh Smyth said the musical was a ‘recipe for disaster on paper’ before it even got to the stage.

She said: ‘Where was the sense of responsibility about spending taxpayers’ money? It’s breathtaking figures we’re talking about here, breathtaking.’

Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin said that committee members have ‘unfinished business’ with RTÉ.

‘The tail was wagging the dog here,’ he said, adding that he doesn’t think the board has been fully accountable or remorseful for its actions in the fiasco. Mr Griffin said: ‘In the private sector, an investment of that size would have gone through really stringent checks and that didn’t happen there.’

The Mail has learned the report reveals: ÷ A business case for the venture had inflated ticket projections; ÷ The Convention Centre was hired for 54 shows before the RTÉ board was consulted; ÷ No formal board approval was given for the project costing €2.9million and which subsequently lost €2.2million; ÷ Musical sponsorship revenue may have been overstated; ÷ Toy Show: The Musical was 64,000 tickets short of breaking even. RTÉ needed to sell 75,000 tickets but only sold 11,000.

The ‘detailed’ Grant Thornton investigation, which took over six months to complete, found the business case for the musical contained unrealistic projections for ticket sales compared to similar shows in Ireland.

It is also understood to have found that sponsorship secured for the musical may have been overstated in its financial reports.

The 2022 musical venture lost the national broadcaster €2.2million – the majority of the €2.8million deficit RTÉ recorded in 2022.

Internal procedures in RTÉ state that any project over €2million has to go to the board for approval, which is done for other productions of similar value such as Dancing With The Stars. However, it’s understood the report identifies this approval was not formally sought from the board nor was it formally granted for a project that was going to cost €2.9million from the outset.

Chair of the Public Accounts Committee Brian Stanley told the Mail TDs reserve the right to call the RTÉ board to come before them again. He said: ‘It’s clear that this was a top-ofthe-head project, and when I say top of the head, maybe two or three people’s heads who went along with it, got involved in the project that was poorly researched, in a crowded market, with a lack of a proper business case. Not just procedures not being followed, but the absence of actually proper procedures being in place.

‘Reporting to the board obviously wasn’t happening. There was a clear lack of procedures in terms of the breakdown between executives and the appointed board.’

Fianna Fáil’s Ms Smyth said of the venture: ‘The figures that we’re talking about would cripple any other arts organisation. None of those organisations would have allowed something like that to go on because ticket sales tell you everything and that is your pre-warning as to how your show will go.’

Ms Smyth attended the musical in the Convention Centre and said that when ticket sales were slow, and they had to hand out 9,000 for free to fill seats it was clear there were ‘glaring red flags’ even before opening night.

Minutes from an RTÉ board meeting in July last year show that the chair, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, noted that ‘no risk assessment was done which showed weakness in board controls’. She said there was a ‘lapse of control and lack of rigorous interrogation by the board. The executive should have provided a risk assessment.’

Documents previously handed over to the Oireachtas committees show the ‘business assumptions’ for the musical was they expected to have 54 performances to the audience of 1,995 in the Convention Centre over Christmas 2022.

With average ticket prices at €46.50, RTÉ needed to sell 70% across all 54 shows to break even –which is 74,900 tickets. Only 27 shows went ahead with 11,044 tickets sold.

RTÉ had projected to make €3.2million in ticket sales but only reached €450,961. Another 9,218 tickets were given away or were included as prizes to competitions. Box office predictions said sell-out shows for the entire run with 107,000 audience members would deliver €4.1million.

The total show costs were budg

eted at €2.9million ‘covering the creative team, casting, venue, and show running costs,’ with all hired to the final running date of January 7, 2023.

However, the final week of performance was abandoned after several cast and crew members fell ill.

Documents given to the Oireachtas Committees also showed they reported €45,000 in sponsorship.

RTÉ’s former director of strategy

Rory Coveney defended the project at previous Oireachtas committee hearings, saying ‘it clearly was not a commercial success but that was not for lack of effort from everyone involved’.

Former chair of the RTÉ board Moya Doherty said she was aware there was a risk, adding: ‘There is a risk in all of these things, but there was enormous pressure for commercial to bring in additional income.’

A spokeswoman for the RTÉ board said the report will be published ‘as soon as possible’.

‘There is a risk in all these things’