€50m bailout far from done deal, RTÉ warned
MINISTERS have warned RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst that the anticipated €55m Budgetday bailout for the broadcaster is far from a ‘done deal’.
With little more than two weeks before the Budget, the Cabinet is increasingly concerned at the lack of detail it has seen of Mr Bakhurst’s long-term plan to reform the crisishit State broadcaster.
These concerns intensified after RTÉ’s refusal to hand over contract details of former director general Dee Forbes, ex head of commercial Geraldine O’Leary and former chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe to the Dáil spending watchdog.
Mr Bakhurst told the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) the contract details of its former senior executives could not be provided because of ‘legal and contractual obligations’.
When RTÉ was asked by the Irish Mail on Sunday if it had received correspondence from legal representatives of Forbes, O’Leary or O’Keeffe, a spokesperson replied: ‘RTÉ does not comment on legal or employment matters.’
In a statement issued on Friday following political criticism of the decision not to disclose the contract details, Mr Bakhurst said: ‘I think that it is important to highlight that RTÉ is fully co-operating with both committees and being as thorough and transparent as we possibly can, within what is permissible in law.’
He added the station could not provide a copy of Ms Forbes’ contract ‘on the basis that relevant details of the former director general’s terms of employment have been provided already’.
However, senior Government figures described RTÉ’s legal strategy as ‘bizarre’.
‘How can you refuse to give out a document on the grounds that it is already out there?’ asked one source, who warned: ‘The station is running a real risk of blocking the bailout.’
Suspicion is growing within the Government over the bona-fides of RTÉ’s intention to reform.
One Coalition source noted: ‘The suspicion is they are hoping to secure a large amount of money under cover of Budget day and hope to continue on as before.
‘Increasingly, the Bakhurst plan appears to be as practical as a seminar of structural engineers on the Titanic over the dangers of icebergs while the ship is sinking.’
Another source said of claims by the director general that RTÉ is not bankrupt: ‘The station resembles one of those restaurants that during the collapse of the Celtic Tiger stopped taking credit cards and only dealt in cash.’
A senior Coalition figure with business experience added: ‘Their figures do not stand up. They are not credible. Falling revenues, a white elephant of a HQ, huge staffing costs… if this was a private company the receivers would be in.’
One minister warned RTÉ not to think the €55m needed to keep the Montrose lights on is a done deal.
They told the MoS: ‘RTÉ appear to think it is a minor sum [but] €55m is not insignificant. It’s enough to pay for free books for secondary schools, it impacts on decisions such as how much are we to provide in heating allowances for old age pensioners shivering in winter. It is real money, and it has a real cascading impact.’
Another senior political figure close to the crisis warned: ‘The attitude and the figures do not stack up. It is as though they are trying to brazen it out, to hide the fact that they are coming, cap in hand, looking for a bailout without offering a thing in return. They are bluffing in a game where everyone knows how the cards are stacked.’
PAC chair Brian Stanley warned the station that, in the absence of full co-operation: ‘I would certainly be suggesting that we get legal advice on what our options are when it comes to compellability.’
The Sinn Féin TD told the MoS: ‘There has been a lot of talk about openness, transparency and accountability, yet here we are three months later still awaiting critical documentation. It is a serious problem for RTÉ. Openness is not an à-la-carte option.
‘Were there golden handshakes that were not appropriate? There’s
‘A very straight question here for RTÉ to answer’
a very straight question here for RTÉ to answer: What system was in place here for senior executives who are exiting?’
Media Minister Catherine Martin, who is currently engaged in tense negotiations with Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe over the proposed restructuring of RTÉ, is scheduled to meet the Oireachtas Media Committee ahead of Budget day.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns warned RTÉ that ‘a credible reform plan must be set out’.
She said: ‘RTÉ must be fully transparent about what went wrong, there must be accountability for failure and a credible reform plan must be set out.
‘There were huge governance failings at RTÉ, a complete absence of checks and balances and a culture which was far too deferential and preferential to those at the very top. All of these issues must be comprehensively addressed in Kevin Bakhurst’s forthcoming plan.’