Cabinet split three ways over future RTÉ State funding
AS RTÉ braces itself for a further series of damning reports, the Cabinet is split three ways when it comes to the future funding of the embattled broadcaster.
The Cabinet is also furious about the latest scandal over Toy Show The Musical, with one senior figure close to the heart of the Government warning: ‘That station has to realise it is in the crosshairs and stop acting the maggot.’
Another minister said: ‘It is time that station came to us with clean hands. We have shown good faith and still the rewards are scant. In an age of disinformation, we are cognisant of the importance of public service broadcasting.
‘RTÉ has to prove its bona fides and its capacity to provide this.’ The broadcaster is facing what one Government source called ‘a perfect tsunami’ of damning reports.
These include: M The review of voluntary exit programmes 2017-2021 conducted for RTÉ by McCann Fitzgerald; M Two independent reviews: into governance and culture and into contractor fees, HR, and other matters in RTÉ.
Two expert advisory committees, respectively chaired by Professor Niamh Brennan and Mr Brendan McGinty, are overseeing the reviews.
It is expected the reviews will be submitted to Media Minister Catherine Martin at the end of February.
RTÉ was also accused of ‘cooking the books’ by the head of the Oireachtas Media
Committee, in relation to the Toy Show The Musical debacle, the Irish Mail on Sunday reported yesterday.
Fianna Fáil TD Niamh Smyth said: ‘The books were being cooked. In the private sector that would be a sackable office. It would not be tolerated.’
Former RTÉ director general Dee Forbes wrote to the Dáil spending watchdog saying she could not provide ‘commercially sensitive’ financial details about the flop show, on the same day that €75,000 was transferred into the show’s accounts in an apparent attempt to conceal its losses.
A July probe by forensic accountants, Mazars, examined RTÉ’s barter account and tried to identify other off balance-sheet accounts.
Tánaiste Micheál Martin has warned that the TV licence fee model will be here ‘for some time’, and he has concerns about direct Exchequer funding for RTÉ.
He said he believes the Revenue Commissioners should collect the €160-perhousehold licence fee, but accepted there were different views in Cabinet.
One Government source said: ‘Micheál Martin is absolutely wedded to that direct Exchequer funding. It appears to be almost an ideological position.’
Catherine Martin’s proposal ‘that you set public funding for seven years and remove it from the electoral cycle has European precedents it is gaining traction.’
‘Paschal Donohoe and Michael McGrath remain opposed to abolishing the licence and transferring it to Revenue. Their view is why would you turn down an existing Revenue stream.’
One minister said: ‘There is concern that if you transfer collection to the Revenue, voters will not be at all impressed to see an extra €15 a month coming out of their pockets.’
Pressure is also increasing on the remaining executive board members who oversaw the Toy Show The Musical debacle, with the position of deputy director general Andrew Lynch coming under particular scrutiny.
Public Accounts Committee chairman Brian Stanley said those executives in RTÉ who were central to this, ‘need to consider their positions’.
Mr Stanley added: ‘This was a vanity project that went rogue. Even the most basic of maths was missed, everything was missed.’
‘A vanity project that went rogue’