RTÉ board 'should have asked more questions' about Toy Show musical, chairwoman says

RTÉ chairwoman Siún Ní Raghallaigh will say of the Toy Show musical: 'The commercial risks associated with an undertaking of this nature were grossly underestimated.' Picture:  Gareth Chaney/Collins

The RTÉ Board acknowledges that it should have asked more questions about Toy Show: The Musical and it is a “source of regret for each member,” chairwoman Siún Ní Raghallaigh is set to tell politicians.

Appearing before the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday, she is expected to tell politicians that the commercial risks associated with the musical of this nature were “grossly underestimated”.

She will appear before the committee alongside director general Kevin Bakhurst and a number of RTÉ board members, including audit and risk committee chairwoman Anne O’Leary,  over the latest revelations in the Grant Thornton report into the flopped Toy Show: The Musical which lost over €2m in revenue.

RTÉ audit and risk committee chairwoman Anne O’Leary will also attend the Oireachtas media committee on Wednesday. Picture: Gareth Chaney/Collins

In her opening statement, Ms Ní Raghallaigh is expected to tell politicians that the report confirms a “significant lapse” in oversight of Toy Show: The Musical.

Her statement reads: “The report finds that Board approval was required for Toy Show the Musical, and it also finds that the formal approval of the Board was neither sought nor provided for.

The Report clearly illustrates that the Board was not kept appropriately informed about the project as it was being developed. Information was withheld from the Board.

“Significant contracts were committed to without the knowledge or approval of the full Board.

“The commercial risks associated with an undertaking of this nature were grossly underestimated.

“The project was not appropriately stress tested.

“External expert advice was ignored.

“However, it is also clear to me that the Executive should have been interrogated by the Board on the project, on an ongoing basis and in a much more rigorous fashion.

“In this regard, the Board acknowledges that they should have asked more questions, and it is a source of regret for each member that they did not.

“We take collective responsibility for the Board’s responsibility in this debacle."

The report also highlights a failure in generally-accepted accounting practices, in that sponsorship was not correctly presented to the board and all costs were not properly captured and linked to the project, Ms Ní Raghallaigh will tell the media committee.

Ms Ní Raghallaigh will also tell the committee that governance structures have been strengthened as a result of the Grant Thorton report. 

She said that this includes lowering, from €2m to €1m, the sum above which board authorisation is required. 

This applies to sports rights, programme acquisitions, programme commissions, and operating expenditure.

Meanwhile, director general Kevin Bakhurst will tell the committee it has been a “difficult and dispiriting time” for RTÉ and that the national broadcaster will “once again become an organisation the country can be proud of".