‘COVENEY PACKAGE MUST BE REVEALED’
PAC chairman seeks details of payoff deal for RTE exec
DETAILS of the payoff package received by former RTE executive Rory Coveney must be revealed, the chair of the PAC said yesterday.
Mr Coveney, who is the brother of Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney, was RTE’S director of strategy.
He was heavily involved in the ill-fated Toy Show The Musical and resigned last summer in wake of the payments scandal.
During the week the Oireachtas Media Committee heard Mr Coveney was given an “exit package”.
Speaking on RTE’S Morning Ireland, Sinn Fein TD Brian Stanley said the amount paid to Mr Coveney should be revealed.
Deputy Stanley, who heads the Public Accounts Committee, said he welcomed changes made by the new executive at
RTE but that it was a mistake to enter into or have confidentiality clauses “around any of these matters”.
He hit out at what he described as the “drip-feed of information” coming from the broadcaster and said that all of the information should be put on the table. He added: “The public are left guessing here, but the facts are that there shouldn’t be a legal impediment to that, there should be no problem with it.
“This is not a secret society, this is a public sector broadcaster being funded by the public ... There
is a moral obligation for it all to be put on the table.”
Social Democrats TD, Roisin
Shortall also said that Mr
Coveney should offer up the relevant information about his exit.
She told Today with Claire Byrne that Mr Coveney’s decision to step down was honourable after the Toy Show The Musical fiasco, so it was a shock to learn he got a “big golden handshake”.
In relation to Mr Bakhurst’s decision not to disclose Mr Coveney’s payment on legal advice, she said there “should not be any secrecy surrounding any of these packages”.
She added: “This is public money in the main, people who work in public sector organisations all details in relation to pay, pensions and all of that should be on the public record.”
Deputy Stanley also said people were “shocked and outraged” about the exit package received by former chief financial officer Breda O’keeffe. On Wednesday, RTE Director General Kevin Bakhurst told the Media Committee she was paid €450,000.
Media Minister Catherine Martin has said she was assured by Mr Bakhurst the payment was compliant with the rules and does not need to be reassessed.
But Deputy Stanley said there was no business case for the deal as it was not a redundancy, but rather a position that was filled.
He added: “There was no saving whatsoever here. It was her choice to voluntarily exit, one stepped out and another stepped in.”