Interim report into RTÉ barter account to be published after minister meets Kevin Bakhurst

Media minister Catherine Martin (pictured) is to hold a meeting at her department with the national broadcaster’s Director General Kevin Bakhurst and Chair of the RTÉ Board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh on Friday.

An interim report into RTÉ's controversial barter account is set to be published tomorrow with Media Minister Catherine Martin holding talks with station chiefs.

The anticipation is that the interim Mazars report will make a judgement about the barter account, assessing its use.

Ms Martin is to hold a meeting at her department with the national broadcaster’s Director General (DG) Kevin Bakhurst and Chair of the RTÉ Board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh on Friday. Ms Martin has come in for criticism in recent days over her “lack of visibility” following more revelations about the broadcaster.

Progress made on reforms and governance at RTÉ, the findings of the second Grant Thorton report and the future of the broadcaster as TV licence fee sales continue to plummet will be discussed at the meeting.

A spokesperson for Ms Martin said the Minister is “hopeful” that the interim forensic accounting report by Mazars will be submitted which she will discuss with both Mr Bakhurst and Ms Ní Raghallaigh. It’s expected the report will be published following their meeting with Minister Martin expected to speak to reporters.

It emerged that the controversial barter account was used to pay out hundreds of thousands of euros on hospitality and entertainment including flights to sporting events, match and concert tickets, hotel stays and lavish dinners in top restaurants. 

It was also revealed that €4,956 was spent on flip flops and more than €2,000 on balloons. The barter account was also used to pay out two €75,000 top-ups to Ryan Tubridy after RTÉ facilitated and underwrote a commercial agreement between the presenter and Renault.

The final completed report is still a number of weeks away from completion. Ms Martin appointed Mazars as the forensic accountant tasked with examining RTÉ's controversial barter account following the payments scandal at RTÉ.

The meeting comes just one week after Mr Bakhurst announced that Ryan Tubridy would not be returning to his RTÉ Radio 1 job at this time. The Oireachtas media committee has also invited RTÉ’s board and Mr Bakhurst to appear before it for further questioning on September 13.

The committee said they want to hear from the board about the adjustment to Ryan Tubridy’s salary and why supporting documents were absent when examining this.

The second Grant Thornton report into the understatement of Mr Tubridy’s pay found the former Late Late Show host was unaware of the decision to adjust his earnings to reflect a €120,000 exit fee which he had waived.