RTÉ presenter tells WRC about management  conversation over video editor pushing for contract

RTÉ radio presenter Colm Ó Mongáin heard management discussing how they should only use a video editor 'as a last resort' for shift work after she pushed to be given a permanent contract, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) heard.

An RTÉ presenter heard management discussing how they should only use a video editor “as a last resort” for shift work after she pushed to be given a permanent contract, the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has heard.

Radio presenter Colm Ó Mongáin told a €360,000 bogus self-employment hearing he heard the relevant conversation in an RTÉ corridor in 2008 after his colleague Maebh Keary Di Lucia had petitioned the station’s management to be given a contract as she was working more hours than the full-time staff covering her position.

He said he heard two managers discussing how one of them, the senior video editor, should "only use Maebh as a last resort until this thing had blown over”.

Mr Ó Mongáin said prior to that conversation, he had worked closely with Ms Keary Di Lucia on various video-editing packages at RTÉ, and she had been “very much in demand” for her skills, and due to her being a “very personable” character. 

Ms Keary Di Lucia said after Mr Ó Mongáin had told her about the interaction, she stopped pushing for an improvement to her working conditions.

Mr Ó Mongáin told the WRC on Monday it was the first time he had related the story in public, although he had taken a note of the interaction contemporaneously in 2008.

The complainant has taken the WRC case against RTÉ for alleged loss of earnings totalling just under €360,000 due to her having been incorrectly treated as a freelance worker between the years 2004 and 2010.

She claims that, in addition to the lost earnings and benefits — such as missed holiday pay and pension contributions — she incurred due her being misclassified over that time, she has continued to be remunerated incorrectly in terms of salary increments, as her official start date at the broadcaster is six years later than it should be, and dates from when she was finally given a permanent contract in 2010.

“Each payslip I receive today still shows the consequences of that misclassification,” she told the hearing.

Rebutting her argument, Louise O’Byrne — a solicitor with Arthur Cox for RTÉ — said the case should be dismissed as the six-month statute of limitations for taking such a case has been exceeded “by 15 years”.

Countering, Ms Keary Di Lucia said Irish law was “clear” on the matter — in that the time limit should only apply after the wrongful behaviour had stopped.

“The breaches I am complaining about have never stopped. My payslips in 2025 still show that I am denied increments, pension contributions, and long-service allowance. That means the discrimination has never been discontinued,” she said.

The case concluded before adjudicating officer Christina Ryan, with a decision expected in due course.