Under-fire minister’s date with committee as she faces quit calls
3-hr session on RTE controversy
MEDIA Minister Catherine Martin will appear before an Oireachtas committee this week amid calls for her resignation over her handling of the latest RTE crisis.
The Oireachtas Media Committee will hold a special three-hour session on Tuesday about the controversy.
Opposition parties have criticised the minister’s handling of the crisis with Labour accusing her of engaging in “summary dismissal” of RTE board chair Siun Ni Raghallaigh live on television.
It emerged yesterday Minister Martin spoke to RTE Director General Kevin Bakhurst late on Friday evening after she spoke to the media.
The minister’s spokesperson said both are “absolutely committed” to work together to chart a path forward for RTE. There is also a growing conflict between RTE’S board and the minister over how much was conveyed to the Department of Media about the approval of an exit package for former chief financial officer Richard Collins. The board has asked to meet the minister and it is understood a meeting will take place next week. The chief executive of leading production company Shinawil, Larry Bass, told Newstalk’s Anton Savage show the Government’s handling of the recent scandals at RTE has been “diabolical”. He added: “It’s so depressing, I’m 15 years asking for this issue to be addressed, the funding issue, with successive governments.
“This Government has been just diabolical in their handling of all of this with a minister in a role now for four years who has managed to stumble from one disaster to another.
“They [ministers] have paid special advisors, I’d certainly be counting my chickens very carefully if I was the special advisor who advised the minister to go on and do a public execution of someone who could go on and actually fix things.
“Siun Ni Raghallaigh has had a stunning career who is embedded in public service broadcasting, has the commercial and financial skills to do the job.”