AN ANATOMY OF A SCANDAL:
Ní Raghallaigh and Bakhurst meet the minister at 11.14am on Monday for two hours. By Friday she has resigned...
IF the RTÉ saga were a television drama, it would have had many spin-offs by now.
In this mini-series, the audience would get to peer inside the room where key meetings happen – at the Department of Arts and Media headquarters on Kildare Street in Dublin.
Outside, a media throng awaits, as cameras pan from the window to the now-departed chair of the RTÉ board for a close-up, as she is asked by Media Minister Catherine Martin if the board signed off on these exit packages for executives who left last year under a cloud of controversy.
There would be a beat – more close-ups of eyes darting around – amid Siún Ní Raghallaigh’s assurances.
Flash forward days later, and she is issuing her resignation statement – at 1am on a Friday morning – hours after she received a so-called ‘summary dismissal live on air’ from the minister she was reporting to, from RTÉ’s Prime Time studios, no less, with Miriam O’Callaghan.
As the public was precluded from looking in on the private meetings between staff at the national broadcaster and the department this week, here are the components of the latest drama at RTÉ.
JUNE 22, 2023: The first scandal hits RTÉ and a Pandora’s box is opened
The chair of the RTÉ board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, revealed that €345,000 in secret payments were made to its once-highestpaid star Ryan Tubridy over several years and he’s taken off the air after RTÉ conducts an independent audit into the payments.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh asked RTÉ’s director general Dee Forbes, right, who presided over the secret deal, for her resignation – which is refused – so Ms Ní Raghallaigh suspended her. The chair was forced to apologise to Minister Martin for not sharing this information with her – which by now appears to have become a common thread in their relationship, one which exploded on live TV on Thursday night.
Over three Oireachtas hearings with members of the RTÉ board and executive, the public learned revelation after revelation about barter accounts, botched musicals and flip-flops.
The new director general Kevin Bakhurst made his presence felt during the grillings before he took office, communicating to politicians of ‘his intention to reconstitute the executive’ once he officially starts in July.
The chief financial officer at that time, Richard Collins, was one of several executives in RTÉ in the spotlight and infamously told politicians that he didn’t know his exact salary ‘off the top of my head’, but later clarified it was ‘in and around’ €200,000 plus a €25,000 car allowance.
RTÉ’s director of strategy Rory Coveney, who presided over the loss-making Toy Show The Musical, resigns. Mr Bakhurst said he spoke to him before taking up the position as DG and agreed his position was not sustainable.
JULY 10, 2023: Kevin Bakhurst’s reign begins (officially)
Eighteen days after the national broadcaster admitted hidden payments to Mr Tubridy, Mr Bakhurst, right, takes up his position as director general of RTÉ.
On day one of the job, Mr Bakhurst disbands the former executive board of RTÉ and creates a new interim leadership team.
Commercial director Geraldine
O’Leary, who was accused of being ‘flippant’ with taxpayers’ money due to ‘lavish’ client entertainment paid through the RTÉ barter account, brings forward her retirement early on this date.
Ms O’Leary said in a statement: ‘Bringing my retirement forward by a number of weeks is not something I had anticipated.
‘However, I recognise that a fresh leadership team, starting today, is vital as Kevin Bakhurst sets out to renew RTÉ, and I have agreed to facilitate that.’
The new broom appears to be sweeping clean, but questions remain. Asked about Mr Collins’s position, Mr Bakhurst said: ‘He’s not on the new leadership. He’s helping us with the Oireachtas inquiries and other work but he has stood back from his day-today role as CFO.
‘He’s working with us now for another couple of weeks, but I really don’t want to get into individual arrangements, because we’re working that through, he’s available to work with us on submissions to committees and to help with any RTÉ work we need.’
But is he still working with RTÉ? ‘We’re not sure about that. We’re in a process with Richard, so I don’t want to talk about it any more,’ he added.
JULY 13, 2023: Mr Collins remains in limbo in RTÉ
Mr Collins was now in a ‘process’ with RTÉ but remained available to be hauled in front of an Oireachtas committee to answer questions about the Tubridy payments. In a meeting of the Public Account Committee he interrupted the chair, Brian Stanley, who referred to him as the ‘former CFO’.
‘If I may make a clarification in relation to the Cathaoirleach’s opening remarks, I am the chief financial officer. The Cathaoirleach said I was the former CFO. I am and remain the CFO,’ Mr Collins said.
Mr Bakhurst this week elaborated on Mr Collins’s exit, saying: ‘I was of the view that I needed to refresh my leadership team, Richard was of the view that he wanted to stay here.
‘We both agreed that it’d be best to go through a mediated legal process so that we could find a way that was agreed through a formal process that Richard would leave the organisation and that I could bring in a new CFO to refresh the leadership team.’
AUGUST 16, 2023: Audit reveals how Tubridy’s earnings were understated by €120,000
An audit by Grant Thornton into how Mr Tubridy’s earnings across 2017, 2018 and 2019 were understated identified three key dates where RTÉ’s finance department could have flagged the issue that led to the incorrect salary figures being published.
The pertinent email identified in the report was circulated to both the former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe, who was soon to vacate her role at the start of 2020, and Mr Collins, who had just taken up the role.
The report details how Mr Collins spoke to auditors Deloitte, who were reviewing salary information ahead of the publication of the top ten earners, where they agreed to rely on an earlier draft of Mr Tubridy’s contract in which RTÉ ‘offset’ €120,000 off his previous three years’ salary.
This was never agreed by Mr Tubridy and his team.
The auditors came to a ‘plausible explanation’ that it was RTÉ’s objective to state that Mr Tubridy’s earnings for each year were below €500,000.
SEPTEMBER 13, 2023: Oireachtas committee convenes to grill RTÉ
When asked about Mr Collins, Mr Bakhurst said: ‘Richard is still employed with us. He is still in the role of CFO but he is not on the leadership team. There is nothing more I can say about that at the moment. I am not trying to be evasive. I am trying to be respectful to Richard and the situation.’
OCTOBER 9, 2023: RTÉ board sub-committee approves the exit of Richard Collins
The exit of Mr Collins was brought to and approved by the Remuneration Committee of the board of RTÉ. The chair of the RTÉ board, Ms Ní Raghallaigh, was also the chair of this sub-committee.
Following independent mediation, Mr Collins, right, departed RTÉ by mutual agreement, with a binding confidentiality clause that was agreed to by both sides – however, this was not announced publicly at this time.
Minutes from the remuneration subcommittee meeting, released by RTÉ yesterday, show that Ms Ní Raghallaigh was joined by fellow RTÉ board member Anne O’Leary, along with Mr Bakhurst, former head of legal Paula Mullooly, director of human resources Eimear Cusack and two advisers from Arthur Cox.
At the meeting, the process with Mr Collins is outlined where ‘after a long day of mediation’ a final position was reached, but the amount he was paid is redacted from the minutes.
It states that ‘there had been considerable work done in the course of the day but this was the best position that could be reached in the current process’.
It says that the chair was going to ‘advise the department of the discussions’.
‘The day after this meeting of the Remuneration Committee, October 10, 2023, Siún contacted the secretary general of the department directly by telephone and updated her about the meeting of the Remuneration Committee, and its outcome – i.e., that it approved an agreement with Richard Collins,’ it adds.
The secretary general at the time, Katherine Licken, has since retired, but the Media Minister said she spoke to her on Thursday of this week.
‘She (Ms Licken) has been clear that while she was informed by phone that the independent mediation process on an exit package for Mr Collins had finally reached a conclusion, she has no recollection of being told that it was approved by the board’s Remuneration Committee,’ said Ms Martin.
OCTOBER 10, 2023: What RTÉ chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh told the Department of Media
Ms Ní Raghallaigh, who has responsibility for keeping Minister Martin informed on developments in RTÉ given the litany of controversies, the awaited bailout from the Government and the massive fall-off in licence fee revenue, said that she had contacted officials in the department to tell them ‘about the process’ resulting in Mr Collins’s departure.
A statement from RTÉ outlined yesterday: ‘The chair had in fact informed the department about the process which led to Richard
Collins’s departure from RTÉ on October 10, the day after it was approved at the Remuneration Committee, which has delegated powers from the board.’
This alleged sequence of events was not revealed to the public until yesterday.
But Ms Martin said there was no note taken of the phone call between Ms Ní Raghallaigh and her former secretary general.
‘The secretary general, as I said, she’s been clear that she was informed by phone that the independent medium process had come to conclusion,’ Ms Martin said. ‘She had no recollection of being told that it’s approved by the board’s Remuneration Committee. ‘I do believe had she’d been told that it would have been something that would have been relayed to me because it was such significance, because never before had a board had a role in approving termination packages.’
OCTOBER 11, 2023: RTÉ staff meeting hears Mr Collins is gone
Mr Bakhurst speaks to some of his 1,800 staff in a townhall meeting where he confirmed that Mr
Collins had resigned, and warned staff that redundancies would be coming down the track as he seeks to slim down the organisation to cut costs.
Mr Bakhurst also said that he could not guarantee that internal reviews initiated by RTÉ into the voluntary exit schemes in 2017 and 2021 and an examination of the Toy Show musical, which cost RTÉ €2.2million, would not uncover further revelations. He was right.
Mr Bakhurst disclosed: ‘Richard Collins has tendered his resignation as CFO of RTÉ. Richard will work on a handover and RTÉ is in the process of identifying a replacement CFO.’
Mr Collins, who was formerly the head of finance at Dunnes Stores, departed RTÉ, threeand-a-half years after he joined.
OCTOBER 12, 2023: Bakhurst appears before the Public Accounts Committee
At a sixth Oireachtas committee hearing appearance, Mr Bakhurst refused to detail how Mr Collins left RTÉ.
When asked if Mr Collins did resign, Mr Bakhurst said that was ‘correct.’
When asked if he left with a packet of money other than his salary, Mr Bakhurst said his hands were tied legally from saying anything and presented the legal advice to the committee.
‘There is a reality in running big organisations, in particular when you are trying to reshape the senior management, on how people leave the organisation,’ he said.
However, he didn’t elaborate further.
When asked was the separation amicable, Mr Bakhurst said: ‘It was professional.’
‘There was an agreement we reached; his legal team were present.’
FEBRUARY 14, 2024: Bakhurst is back in front of an Oireachtas committee
Mr Bakhurst dropped the bombshell that Breda O’Keeffe, Mr Collins’s predecessor, was given €450,000 in her noncompliant redundancy package from RTÉ.
He also let slip that Mr Coveney got an ‘exit package’ but would not reveal the value.
Further questions were asked about Mr Collins’s exit, but he said he could not divulge these due to legal advice.
Mr Collins was invited to the committee but declined to attend.
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2024: Minister calls Bakhurst
Minister Martin spoke to Mr Bakhurst over the phone and ‘emphasised the need for maximum transparency, particularly in respect of exit packages’.
Mr Bakhurst committed to seeking updated legal advice in relation to the disclosure of details of individual exit packages.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2024: RTÉ releases further details on exit packages
Under mounting political pressure, RTÉ released a statement which revealed that Mr Coveney’s exit package would be recouped in a year.
For the first time, RTÉ also gave further detail around Mr Collins’s exit – saying that it followed an independent mediation process, with him departing by mutual agreement with a binding confidentiality clause.
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2024: Minister hauls in Mr Bakhurst and Ms Ní Raghallaigh
Both Mr Bakhurst and Ms Ní
Raghallaigh were called in to the department for a sit down with the minister, who wanted to ‘reemphasise’ the need for transparency around exit packages.
The pair arrived on Kildare Street at 11.14am, and didn’t emerge from the department until 1.29pm.
After the meeting, Mr Bakhurst and Ms Ní Raghallaigh made only a short statement to the press.
Ms Martin held a press conference where she said that Ms Ní Raghallaigh was ‘informed’ about Mr Collins’s exit package, adding: ‘But she had no role whatsoever in approval. So I sought clarification on that.
‘Indeed the board – which is the relationship that I directly have, with the chair of the board – they have no role whatsoever in these issues. The chair certainly did not approve any of these, nor should she approve that.
Ms Martin added that in future all exit agreements and packages would go before the board for approval.
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 21, 2024: RTÉ gets updated legal advice and tells the minister
The minister received a briefing from the chair of RTÉ and the director general on foot of their updated legal advice around whether they can reveal more details of the exit packages.
Ms Martin asked again whether the board approved the exit packages to Mr Collins and Mr Coveney.
RTÉ said that both Mr Bakhurst and Ms Ní Raghallaigh ‘met with the minister for over three hours this week’.
‘A large volume of issues were addressed and discussed, and within that context some confusion arose regarding a question from the minister to the chair about the approval by the RTÉ board of the exit of former CFO Richard Collins,’ it said.
RTÉ said that the chair informed the department about Mr Collins’s exit being rubberstamped by the board as far back as October. It further stated: ‘This detail was taken as read although it seems now that it shouldn’t have been.’
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 2024: Chair’s fatal error
After just 14 months in the job, Ms Ní Raghallaigh spent her last day at the helm of the national broadcaster.
After questions were asked by the minister this week about board approval for exit packages, Ms Ní Raghallaigh went back and checked the minutes of the RTÉ board Remuneration Committee from
October 9, 2023.
Ms Martin appeared on Prime Time to talk about updated legal advice which shows that RTÉ is precluded from revealing the details of Mr Collins and Mr Coveney’s packages.
At 9.35pm Minister Martin said that after asking the chair twice this week whether the board had any role in signing off on the packages, a new story had emerged.
‘It has been made known to me now that, in fact, in the second exit package, and that of Richard Collins, it went before the Remuneration Committee, so it was approved,’ she said.
‘These were the new reforms that come into place obviously, it’s not satisfactory.’
Ms Martin did not express confidence in Ms Ní Raghallaigh in her position as a chair of a semi-state body, and wrote to her to express her ‘deep disappointment’ and asked for a meeting.
FRIDAY FEBRUARY 23: RTÉ chair resigns
The statement landed at 48 minutes past midnight.
‘Chair of the RTÉ Board Siún Ní Raghallaigh resigns effective immediately.’
It reads, from the chair: ‘It is abundantly clear from statements today, and in particular last night’s Prime Time broadcast, that I no longer have the confidence of the minister in my role as chair of the board of RTÉ and that, as such, my position is no longer tenable.’
She said in her three hours of meeting with the minister ‘and her officials’ this week, she ‘neglected to recollect that Richard Collins’s exit package did go before the Remuneration Committee.’
‘I informed the department about the process which led to Richard’s departure from RTÉ, on October 10, the day after it was approved at the Remuneration Committee,’ she said.
Yesterday, Ms Martin said that she had been informed by the chair earlier this week that they had no role whatsoever in the approval of an exit package. ‘I teased it out even more on the Wednesday meeting, and then to find out on the Thursday that she has suddenly remembered that she not only was in the meeting, but chaired the meeting that approved it,’ the minister added.
Ms Martin said that during the Wednesday meeting Ms Ní Raghallaigh said: ‘No, we did not have a role, but in the future with the new reform we will’ – so she was talking of her job in the future tense even on Wednesday.