Another €20m hole for RTE?
State could be on the hook for station’s bogus contractors’ holiday and pension pay
RTÉ FACES another fiscal black hole of up to €20m as a result of the bogus contracting scandal involving almost 700 workers at the national broadcaster, the Irish Mail on Sunday can reveal.
Details of the latest controversy to engulf the station emerged during a heated meeting of the Oireachtas Media Committee this week.
RTÉ is in the process of settling outstanding tax and PRSI liabilities to the State after it illegally classed 695 employees as self-employed when they were effectively working full-time.
As a result, the affected workers were denied pension rights, holiday pay, sick leave and maternity leave.
During a tense estimates meeting, Media Minister Catherine Martin was tackled by committee members about the overall cost to the State of the illegal contracting controversy at RTÉ.
Ms Martin previously said RTÉ has made a provision of less than
‘I can’t speculate about the unknown’
€20m to pay and correct the
PRSI contributions of the workers involved to the Revenue and the Department of Social Protection.
But at the meeting, Ms Martin said she did not know what the cost of compensating the employees would be, and that she had not inquired as to what it could amount to.
Fine Gael TD Brendan Griffin asked the minister: ‘I would presume, in a bailout, you would have a figure to establish the full liability. Have you sought a figure?’
But Ms Martin replied: ‘As a minister, I cannot get involved.’
And she added: ‘I am not going to seek something until it is concluded and they have the exact figures. I don’t speculate about figures. I can’t speculate about the unknown.
‘We can’t do a contingency for the unknown. There is no contingency, there is no provision.’
A visibly incredulous Mr Griffin shot back: ‘This is a possible financial black hole. This is crucial. This could run into the multimillions.
This could dwarf the licence-fee losses. Surely your department needs to be all over this?’
Speaking after the hearing, committee chair Niamh Smyth said at least €20m will be needed to compensate the affected employees for lost entitlements.
She told the MoS: ‘There would be entitlements to pensions, to holiday pay, to sick pay and maternity leave dating back over 40 years; €20m could be a best-case scenario. We may be looking at the tip of the iceberg.’
During the committee hearing, Ms Martin confirmed that the licence-fee losses for last year, following the scandal involving hidden payments to former Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy and other controversies, amounted to €19,783,360.
Mr Griffin observed that this could be the same figure needed to settle cases involving the illegally contracted workers.
The Kerry TD also hit out at the station’s treatment of its staff. He said: ‘Workers are being treated rottenly and continue to be. This has happened under people who have walked away with massive settlements.
‘There is an element of Mr Bates Versus The Post Office about this, and it is very sad to see that happening in our own country and in an organisation like RTÉ.’
Ms Martin responded: ‘I am not the employer; that is up to RTE,’ adding that it was ‘not appropriate for a minister to answer that’.
But Mr Griffin countered that Ms Martin, as the minister with oversight of the national broadcaster, should have a role in the matter.
He said: ‘RTÉ are abdicating their responsibilities to these people, and when workers raise this, they are told to take the station to court. It is not good enough to say:
“It’s a matter for the DG [director general]”. Workers who have given 40 years are being mistreated. So, Minister, I do think it is your business.’
Mr Griffin told Ms Martin: ‘You need to talk to the chair of RTÉ [Siún Ní Raghallaigh] about how they were treated when they raised their plight. They are not seeing the change of culture that we have heard talked about last summer. Instead, they are seeing a circling of the wagons, a battening down of the hatches and a worsening of the culture.’
‘Workers who gave 40 years being mistreated’
The embattled Green Party deputy leader was also taken to task by the committee chair.
Ms Smyth warned her: ‘I have heard extremely worrying and harrowing stories, particularly [from] women. Before you make any commitment on any funding for RTÉ, for your sake and the department’s sake, I think it would be hugely important you are informed what that bottom line might be.’
She added: ‘Seven hundred people are a huge cohort. If I were in your shoes, I would like absolute clarity before we made any commitment into the future.’
The latest controversy has further sapped confidence in Ms Martin’s performance in dealing with seemingly endless scandals at RTÉ.
One senior Coalition source said: ‘Catherine Martin looks and sounds more like a functionary for RTÉ than a minister in charge.’
Speaking after this week’s stormy committee meeting, Brendan Griffin told the MoS: ‘These are workers whose voices are needed to be heard. The organisation is ignoring and not doing right by them.’
RTÉ said it had ‘no comment’ to make when contacted by the MoS this weekend. Ms Martin was also contacted for comment.