Can’t say it best when you say nothing at all
OF all days to be stood up for a date, Valentine’s Day must be the worst.
Members of the Oireachtas Media Committee were feeling particularly unloved this week as nine people left them hanging on February 14.
TDS and Senators took the heartache of being rejected out on the RTE chiefs who did show up.
And sparks certainly flew! We thought that Committee members had extracted as much information as they could from station Director General Kevin Bakhurst, board chair Siun Ni Raghallaigh and the rest.
But as RTE keeps showing us – the deeper you dig, the more there is to this scandal.
This latest appearance in front of the Oireachtas Media Committee delved into reports on Toy Show the Musical and voluntary exit schemes at the national broadcaster.
The same names were mentioned over and over.
Yet none of these people were at the hearing.
This includes former Director General
Dee Forbes, Moya Doherty, former chairperson of the RTE Board, Rory Coveney, former Director of Strategy, and Breda O’keeffe, former Chief Financial Officer.
Ms Forbes’ lawyers have said that she is too unwell to attend meetings and they can provide up-to-date medical information if required.
All of this meant the former RTE DG was unable to make it to Leinster House for Valentine’s Day.
Doherty could not attend because of “personal and family reasons”.
O’keeffe and Coveney stated they had already taken part in independent reports into controversies and suggested they had no more to add.
The reports show this is certainly debatable.
Stating that you took part in a report – and so you do not have to come to a committee – does not hold water.
The reports were impartial factfinding missions.
It was always understood that they would be scrutinised by our
politicians. As she turned down an invitation, Breda O’keeffe lamented that she had been “subjected to excessive and intense media intrusion into both my personal and professional life”.
She said: “Much of the coverage and commentary has been inaccurate and unfair. This has been extremely distressing for me and my family. I respectfully decline the invitation to attend.”
A solicitor for O’keeffe sent a letter to Kevin Bakhurst outlining “a range of things she would like me [Bakhurst] to say” at the committee.
His response to such gall was the right one: You were invited. Come and say it yourself. This was the second time O’keeffe turned down an invitation but tried to interject from afar.
She texted Deputy DG Adrian Lynch during a PAC meeting in July asking him to make an intervention. That’s not how it works.
Under significant pressure and despite a legal threat, Bakhurst revealed O’keeffe had received a €450,000 exit package.
The Mccann Fitzgerald report did not assign any blame to O’keeffe when it came to her redundancy payment.
But this does not mean she should not answer questions. Similarly, we now know Coveney received an exit package, the details of which could not be revealed for legal reasons.
If we want to end this controversy, we need full answers and cooperation from everyone once and for all.
These people need to allow TDS to question them more deeply.
While they are no longer obliged to attend Oireachtas Committees, the actions being questioned happened when they were on RTE’S publicly funded payroll.
They owe it to the public to answer questions.
Even if they don’t feel the love from politicians.