Committee of Public Accounts to meet with representatives of RTE and Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media

The meeting in Committee Room 3 of Leinster House will be joined by the C&AG, Seamus McCarthy, and will be split into two sessions.

The morning session, from 9.30am-12.30pm, will be with representatives of RTÉ, led by the Director General, Dee Forbes, and officials from the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, to examine the State funding provided to RTÉ through Programme E, Broadcasting, in the 2020 Appropriation Account for Vote 33 Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media.

During the afternoon session, the Committee will consider the Minutes of its meeting of 16 December 2021, Correspondence, its Work Programme for 2022 and any other business.

PAC Cathaoirleach Deputy Brian Stanley said: “Responsibility for voted expenditure to RTÉ transferred to of the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport & Media in 2020. RTÉ is part-funded by the licence fee as well as commercial revenue, which it is responsible for generating through advertising income and other commercial activities. In 2020, RTÉ received €198 million from licence fees collected of €223 million.

“Areas the Committee will examine includes the distribution of this funding within RTÉ and how much of this funding goes towards remuneration of RTÉ employees, including the station’s high earners; the classification of contractors in light of the interim voluntary payment of €1.2 million made by RTÉ in respect of an audit by the Revenue Commissioners; and an update on the remuneration review conducted on behalf of RTÉ following the Committee’s engagement with the station last April.

“The Committee welcomes this latest engagement with Ms Forbes and her colleagues and looks forward to examining the Broadcast element of Vote 33 expenditure.”

The meeting in Committee Room 3 can be viewed live on Oireachtas TV.

PAC is a standing committee of Dáil Éireann which focuses on ensuring public services are run efficiently and achieve value for money. Further information on the role and remit of the Committee can be found here.

Committee proceedings can also be viewed on the Houses of the Oireachtas Smartphone App, available for Apple and Android devices.