RTÉ chaos delays funding reform until after election
THE prospect of an imminent general election means no ‘seismic’ action will be taken to stem the tide of shambolic disclosures from RTÉ, ministers said yesterday.
However, a number of Cabinet members said the debacle this week over exit payments to departing executives which resulted in the resignation of former chair Siún Ní Rathallaigh has seriously damaged director general Kevin Bakhurst’s credibility.
One minister told the Irish Mail on Sunday: ‘It is impossible that Bakhurst will be allowed to be the only one to lead reform at RTÉ. He’ll be kept there for now, but all his credibility is gone.’
It comes as Mr Bakhurst is under mounting pressure to explain why he stayed silent in meetings with Media Minister Catherine Martin when she was ‘misinformed’ about golden handshake deals last year.
The latest controversy to engulf the crisis-plagued national broadcaster has presented a political dilemma for the Government.
While publicly, ministers have been paying lip service to commitments
‘This is a problem for the next government’
to reform the funding and corporate governance structure at RTÉ, there are cynical admissions from within Government they are happy to allow ‘chaos’ to continue until the general election, widely expected to be in late autumn.
And while senior sources said Ms Martin has been ‘politically damaged’ by the latest controversy, similarly pragmatic political considerations mean she will not be ousted. One Cabinet minister told the MoS: ‘While the public find a lot of this shambolic lunacy at RTÉ as compelling as we do, they are not directly associating the Government with it.
‘We don’t perceive the scandal is affecting Government popularity in the way big-ticket items like housing, health or justice would.
‘With a general election likely to fall in the next nine months and a summer break, there’s no way any substantive legislation or policy relating to RTÉ will be put in place in time.’
They added: ‘This is a problem for the next government.’
Ministers also admitted the most recent round of disclosures has put off a final decision on future funding for the cash-strapped station.
A Cabinet source said: ‘There are two reports [relating to reform and corporate governance] to come on RTÉ, and they will make recommendations. We would expect RTÉ to accept those recommendations, then they will receive interim funding to get to the next administration.’
Another minister commented the ‘honeymoon’ for the DG, who took the helm last summer, ‘is over’.
They told the MoS: ‘He has been contaminated by RTÉ, but we’ll leave him in there for now.’
Another minister added: ‘Bakhurst is a busted flush. At first, there was a bit of confidence in him, but he quickly reverted to RTÉ type, making sidelines [deals] and agreeing those foolish confidentiality clauses [in exit packages to departing executives]. I would say he regrets taking the job now.’
Politically, it’s accepted Ms Martin – who has faced Cabinet criticism for her overall handling of the various RTÉ crises – has performed badly over the last week.
A Cabinet source said: ‘She merely went from doing nothing all along to doing something... though you’d assume she had to get rid of the chair anyway, after her [Ní Raghallaigh’s] performance.
‘It wasn’t clear what her strategy was, if there was any, by sacking someone on TV. She may have been trying to look tough, but it just left us all scratching our heads.
‘She’s damaged, but any attempt to oust her would be resisted by the Green Party and would threaten the stability of the Coalition.’