Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 13 July 2023
57. Deputy Peter Fitzpatrick asked the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media if she has confidence in the RTÉ board, considering the board directly withheld information relating to requesting the resignation of a person (details supplied) and the subsequent drip-feeding of information in previous weeks; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34690/23]
View answerAs the Deputy will be aware, I met last Thursday, 6th July, with the Chair of the RTÉ Board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, the new Director General of RTÉ, Kevin Bakhurst, and the acting Deputy Director General, Adrian Lynch. It was a constructive meeting with a full and frank exchange of views.
I made clear at the meeting that I was not satisfied with the way in which information was being provided by the Executive to the RTÉ Board, to the public and to the Oireachtas. The drip feed of information over the past three weeks has caused further significant damage to the reputation of RTÉ and to the morale of the many dedicated and hard working professionals in the organisation who had no knowledge or part in these issues. Work needs to start on rebuilding the trust and confidence of all these stakeholders and I believe we have seen the first steps in this rebuilding, with the announcement of the new Director General's plan of reform on Monday.
The Board acted quickly in initiating the first Grant Thornton Report when the matter was brought to the attention of the Audit and Risk Committee in March. The Chair has apologised to me for not divulging at our meeting on 24 June that she had asked the former Director General to resign, citing legal advice. I understand her approach, given that this was a fast moving situation and a process had been put in place. It should be noted that the Chair advised me of the subsequent suspension of the Director General, which brought that process to conclusion.
My focus is now on the independent, root and branch examination of RTÉ that I announced last week and the work of the forensic accountant. The forensic accountant is now appointed and will commence work without delay. The forensic accountant will initially focus on the barter account and any other off-balance sheet accounts that may be identified.
This process will complement the work and reform of RTÉ that the new Director General set out in his statement of 10 July, his first day in the role.
It is important to give both reviews the time to fully address their mandate. The review on corporate governance and organisational culture will seek to identify any corporate governance and cultural issues that have led to the current revelations and will recommend actions to prevent their recurrence. I will expand the scope as necessary to enable a thorough and comprehensive examination of these matters.
The reviews will be overseen by two Expert Advisory Committees and I expect to receive their final reports within six months of the commencement of their work.
