Harris calls for list of exit packages paid out over the past year
MINISTER Simon Harris has called on RTÉ to immediately publish exit packages signed off last year, as the broadcaster has dragged its heels on publishing even a total sum handed out.
The Minister for Further and Higher Education also said RTÉ needs to ‘publish the methodology’ behind why exit packages were given to recently departed executives.
Mr Harris said RTÉ needs to ‘pull back the curtain and let the public inside in terms of the rationale and logic behind some of the decisions.
‘I don’t want to know what somebody ate for their breakfast. I don’t want anyone to breach the law. I don’t want anyone to break legal confidential agreements.’
He said that the law already compels RTÉ to publish the aggregate sums of the exit payments given to top executives.
‘That’s a legal requirement on this organisation, but just do it quickly,’ he said.
RTÉ usually publishes this information in its annual report in the summer. However, the broadcaster has said it is considering bringing this forward.
Since 2016, RTÉ has paid out at least €2.6million in ‘termination benefits’ to executives leaving the organisation, but figures for 2023 are as yet unknown.
Mr Harris said RTÉ should also publish a ‘methodology document’ to let the public and the Government in on how the organisation decides on who gets exit payments.
‘Publish a methodology document. Let the public know the rationale and logic RTÉ management undertook when making certain payments. I think those two things would really help.’
The minister said the Government would make a decision on the future funding of RTÉ before the Dáil summer recess.
TV licence sales were down by over €540,000 last week. RTÉ has lost €21million in revenue from the TV licence as people have protested against the charge following a series of scandals.
‘The Government position has been very clear,’ said Mr Harris. ‘The Government wants to settle the question in relation to a future funding model for RTÉ this side of the summer recess. I mean, this has been said by senior figures in Government as recently as this week. There’s no mystery here.’
Mr Harris said that from the Government’s point of view, the next step is to appoint a new chair to the RTÉ board.
‘I’d like to see it done next week, if possible, but I do think more important than that is getting the right person. And this is an extremely challenging role that somebody would be taking on,’ the minister said.
He said that discussions are under way to fill the position.
The director general of RTÉ, Kevin Bakhurst, told staff at a town hall meeting that Mr Harris’s argument was ‘reasonable’ and that ‘clear procedures’ around these exit deals do need to be outlined.
Green Party Leader Eamon Ryan has also said that he was briefed on the issues that arose with RTÉ chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh by Media Minister Catherine Martin last week before she appeared on Prime Time.
Ms Martin told the Oireachtas Media Committee this week that she had not expected to be asked in the interview whether she had confidence in the chair of the RTÉ board. She refused to answer live on air and Ms Ní Raghallaigh resigned hours later.
Mr Ryan said while he would have expected this question to arise in an interview, it was not discussed with Ms Martin before her interview.
‘You have to have your confidence that you’re getting the full picture, and if in a series of instances that wasn’t the case, on what wasn’t a small issue, I fully understood Catherine’s concerns,’ he said.
He said he agreed with the way Ms Martin dealt with it.
When it comes to RTÉ funding, Mr Ryan said: ‘We have to make sure that we have learned the lessons of what went wrong in recent years’. He said the ‘sooner the better’ in deciding on a funding model, but he said the decision should wait for the Government’s expert advisory report, which will be published next month.
‘This is an extremely challenging role’