‘Risk management expertise needed’ on the station’s board
TWO vacancies on the RTÉ board remain to be filled, and an internal review has found that people with key financial, risk management and corporate governance expertise need to be sought out.
At the Oireachtas Media Committee last week, RTÉ chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh said the board ‘should have asked more questions’ about the ill-fated Toy Show The Musical. However, other board members insisted they were prevented from accessing key information around the show.
Internal documents obtained by the Irish Daily Mail show the he Department of Media consulted with Ms Ní Raghallaigh and with NewEra – which provides financial and commercial advice to Government ministers and departments – about reconfiguring a new board. On October 31 last, Ms Ní Raghallaigh wrote to Stephen Ryan and copied in former RTÉ head of legal Paula Mulloolly and Neil Carron outlining the skills currently lacking on the board.
The included financial/restructuring, HR/employment issues, risk management, corporate governance, news and current Affairs as well as independent production. Ms Ní Raghallaigh also highlighted that she would like further public service experience. On August 1, in a letter to Media Minister Catherine Martin, in relation to the upcoming completion of Ian Kehoe’s term on the board in October, Ms Ní Raghallaigh outlined skills gaps she felt were present on the board. She said: ‘I wanted to highlight some of the skillsets that we need at board level, in particular, experience at finance officer level, understanding of corporate governance and familiarity with cultural change. Of course it would be unusual to find all of those skills in one person, but if one were to prioritise, I would say that financial/accounting skills would be welcome.’ Ms Ní Raghallaigh requested that the board vacancies created by the resignations of Ian Kehoe and Connor Murphy be filled by someone with expertise in finance or human resources/ employee relations. A Department of Media spokesman said it is ‘normal’ for the chair to outline the skillsets required.