RTÉ reports set to recommend major changes to contracts and allowances

One of the reports due this week will recommend major changes to how salaries are structured at RTÉ, going beyond a €250,000 pay cap suggested by director general Kevin Bakhurst. Picture: Niall Carson/PA 

Three long-awaited reports into RTÉ’s governance, which will recommend changes to employee contracts, allowances, and oversight will be published this week.

Among the recommendations of one report will be major changes to how salaries are structured at RTÉ, going beyond a €250,000 pay cap suggested by the broadcaster’s director general Kevin Bakhurst last year.

Media Minister Catherine Martin is set to bring the three reports — on contractor fees, governance and culture, and a forensic accounting examination of the controversial barter account used to funnel payments to former Late Late Show presenter Ryan Tubridy — to Cabinet on Tuesday. She is expected to suggest that RTÉ accepts the recommendations and findings of all three reports. 

The Government has pledged to bail out RTÉ with a further €40m, contingent on the recommendations in the reports being implemented.

The report on contractor fees, chaired by employment affairs expert Brendan McGinty, recommends a review of presenter pay based on “principles of transparency, consistency, fairness, clarity and sustainability”. 

This is likely to see RTÉ’s pay structure more defined at all levels, broadly in line with the civil service, with more transparent pay scales across the board.

A recommendation of the report on culture and governance at RTÉ, led by Niamh Brennan of the UCD Centre for Corporate Governance, would see all salaries above €200,000 at RTÉ published as a matter of course, not just the top 10 on-screen earners. It is understood that Niamh Brennan’s report contains 90 recommendations.

The forensic accounting examination of the barter account is understood to have found that while it was used primarily for entertainment, no individual benefited personally. However, the report adds that the RTÉ board was not aware of its existence.

The reports are expected to further recommend that RTÉ be given a “sustainable” funding model backed by legislation.

However, on Sunday, sources said no decision has yet been made about RTÉ’s future funding model. 

The Government is set to decide before the summer break on how the national broadcaster is funded — through the TV licence, direct exchequer funding, or a hybrid of the two. A senior source said that a decision on that issue would not be made for “at least a few weeks”.

Legislation is also required to bring RTÉ under the auspices of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG), something Ms Martin said that she was “open” to last year. In early March, the Oireachtas public accounts committee called for RTÉ to be brought under the remit of the C&AG. At the time, the proposal was described as “sensible” by Taoiseach Simon Harris.

Speaking in Sligo, Ms Martin said she has given two reports “detailed consideration” over the last few days.

“I think the two reports on culture, governance, and HR are the ones of most significance,” said Ms Martin. 

“I have the Mazar [report] too, but those two are the only ones since this crisis emerged that will have and do have recommendations.” 

She said those recommendations are for both RTÉ and the Government