RTÉ must give creche staff copies of TV show

Two childcare workers who claim they were defamed in an RTÉ Prime Time programme about creches have secured Supreme Court orders directing RTÉ to give them copies of recordings of the programme in the format shown to some parents prior to the broadcast.

The three-judge Supreme Court yesterday dismissed RTÉ’s appeal against a High Court ruling the workers were entitled to copies of recordings of the “Breach of Trust” programme both as broadcast on May 28, 2013, and as shown days earlier to the parents of children cared for by Links Creche, at Abbington, Malahide, Co Dublin. RTÉ must also provide any transcripts of what was shown.

Sandra Kavanagh and Lisa Craddock sought the recordings prior to delivering statements of claim in defamation actions against RTÉ over the programme, which involved undercover reporters secretly filming at a number of creches.