‘Clear policy’ was to ‘protect themselves’
THE ’clear policy’ of former RTÉ director general Dee Forbes and some of her executives in responding to ‘the calamitous failure’ of
Toy Show The Musical was ‘to protect themselves at any cost’, the head of the Dáil spending watchdog said. Public Accounts Committee (PAC) chair Brian Stanley also warned that when senior RTÉ figures appear before the committee again, ‘We will be digging deep into every aspect of this debacle.’ Mr Stanley’s deputy on the committee, Catherine Murphy, accused members of RTÉ’s executive of misleading the watchdog when it first raised queries about Toy Show The Musical at the end of 2022.
‘When we originally raised queries and concerns about Toy Show [The Musical], we got a very lordly response about RTÉ not being obliged to provide information on the business case of a commercial company,’ Deputy Murphy said. In their subsequent correspondence to the PAC before the scandal over hidden payments made to former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy had emerged, RTÉ stated: ‘As would be normal in any venture of this kind the business case was presented to the RTÉ finance team. The chair of the RTÉ board, director general and the RTÉ executive were also briefed on the project.
‘The final green light on the project was given on March 29th 2022 by a subset of the RTÉ board, the audit and risk sub-committee and the programme sub-committee.’ Commenting on the letter, Deputy Murphy said: ‘RTÉ has serious questions to answer about this response. At a minimum, the information to the PAC was incorrect. It does not align with the information in the [Grant Thornton] report.’
The Kildare North TD added: ‘RTÉ has serious questions to answer before the committee on this, and on how the board was prevented from doing its job by virtue of how the executive performed.
‘Real questions have to be asked; would any of this have come out were it not for Ryan Tubridy?’
Oireachtas Media Committee chair Niamh Smyth said RTÉ’s executive ‘engaged in appalling levels of laissez faire when it came to their corporate responsibilities’.
The Cavan-Monaghan TD added: ‘They withheld information and the
‘We have a right to know who withheld information’
information they gave was inaccurate.
‘My sense of this is that that the executive treated the board with contempt.
‘Accountability needs to be applied at executive level. We have a right to be told who withheld the information.’
Ms Smyth also said RTÉ should now disclose ‘the salaries and benefits of the top tier executives’.
The Fianna Fáil TD added: ‘It is not enough to have a top 10 of presenters. Top RTÉ executives are paid by the taxpayer too. Their salaries, the top ones, and the skill sets that merit these salaries should be exposed.’
Meanwhile, concerns are growing within Fine Gael over the central role of former RTÉ head of strategy Rory Coveney – brother of Enterprise Minister, Simon – in the musical.
One senior party figure said: ‘It is a problem if he turns up [at Oireachtas Committee] and if he doesn’t turn up.’