RTÉ urged to release emails over ex-editor moved af ter complaint
Media committee wants broadcaster to hand over communication between Forbes and manager Nally
RTÉ has been called on to release documents detailing how former director general Dee Forbes created a new role for a senior manager who was subject to internal complaints.
The Oireachtas Media Committee has written to the broadcaster to request it hands over emails between Ms Forbes and former head of current affairs David Nally, after they were refused under Freedom of Information rules.
The documents relate to the creation of a new Editorial Advisor to the Director of Content role in 2022 by Ms Forbes.
In 2022 Mr Nally, who was head of current affairs for 15 years, was moved to the newly created editorial role on a salary of €150,000 – in the same year a complaint
‘Personal information’
against him by a fellow RTÉ journalist was upheld.
This provoked fury in the National Union of Journalists, who asked Ms Forbes why the post was not advertised.
RTÉ has refused to release three emails between Mr Nally and Ms Forbes on April 12 and 13 2022 to both the RTÉ Trade Union Group and the Irish Daily Mail. RTÉ’s Freedom of Information unit refused the requests on the grounds that they contained ‘personal information’.
‘The remaining records are an exchange between the thendirector general and the identifiable individual, David Nally, in relation to his new role and matters such as annual leave. Having examined the records and considered the matter carefully, I have come to the conclusion these records are “personal information” and are therefore subject to a mandatory exemption,’ the FOI decision-maker said to the Trade Union Group.
‘The email exchange clearly relates to the employment of an identifiable individual. It is therefore “personal information” in relation to Mr Nally.’
RTÉ did release one document which details the description of the role and its responsibilities. A spokesman for RTÉ told the Mail that while transparency is a ‘central focus’ of director general Kevin Bakhurst ‘the correspondence sought contains personal information that RTÉ is not in a position to provide’.
‘The position of Editorial Adviser to the Director of Content was announced in April 2022. It was not advertised,’ the spokesman added.
He said that the role has since been suppressed by Mr Bakhurst, delivering savings to RTÉ. ‘Beyond that, RTÉ is not in a position to comment for legal reasons,’ the spokesman said.
This would have meant Mr Nally was entitled to an exit payment. His annual salary was €150,000 in the editorial adviser role that he occupied for just 18 months.
Mr Nally was Mr Bakhurst’s number two when the DG formerly headed up the current affairs department.
Mr Nally’s move into the role followed an independent report into the working culture in RTÉ’s current affairs department. The Resolve report in 2021 found staff in the department felt ‘defeated’, and female staff members said they were discriminated against.
The redacted report, made public after the NUJ won an appeal to the Information Commission, was damning in its condemnation of work practices in the department.
Mr Nally left RTÉ in October last year to pursue a legal career.
Chair of the Media Committee Niamh Smyth has said that RTÉ needs to hand over the documents. She told the Mail: ‘It really is about time that we didn’t have to pull information out of them kicking and screaming. I think staff within RTÉ should be entitled to know. This idea that jobs are created for people, they are not advertised for the entire organisation to apply for.
‘It flies in the face of the idea that accountability, governance and transparency is there.’
She said that this information will give further insight into how Ms Forbes interacted with her senior management.
In the absence of Ms Forbes being willing to appear in front of the Media Committee, Ms Smyth said it is necessary to see this documentation to fill in the blanks. The committee chair said elements of personal information in the emails can be redacted.
‘It’s up to the creative minds in the organisation and their legal team to redact the information that might be personal although I find it difficult to understand how creating a role in an organisation exposes anyone’s personal business.’
RTÉ’s FOI unit has also refused to release a solicitor’s letter from the former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe following a request from the Irish Independent newspaper.
The day before Mr Bakhurst presented for the Media Committee last month he received a solicitor’s letter from her.
An independent report into her exit revealed that Ms O’Keeffe’s redundancy was not compliant with the RTÉ exit scheme.
However, RTÉ has refused to release the letter sent to the director general.
Department felt ‘defeated’