Kevin Bakhurst and RTÉ board invited back before Oireachtas as document delays criticised 

Media committee says there are 'unanswered questions' from second Grant Thornton report into the understatement of fees paid to Ryan Tubridy

RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst has been invited to appear before the Oireachtas media committee on September 13. Picture: Leah Farrell / RollingNews.ie

The Oireachtas media committee is inviting RTÉ’s board and director general Kevin Bakhurst to appear before it for further questioning on September 13.

The media committee met virtually on Tuesday and said it would also be writing to Media Minister Catherine Martin to attend at a later date to discuss the future of funding for the national broadcaster after TV licence sales have plummeted in recent weeks.

TDs and senators have also decided to give RTÉ a deadline of September 8 to submit outstanding documentation requested by the committee since early July.

Fine Gael TD Alan Dillon said it was not acceptable there was a delay to the documentation, which Mr Bakhurst has told the Public Accounts Committee would be available by September 15.

Mr Dillon said the committee has been “very patient” to date in relation to important reports and criticised RTÉ for previously delaying sending opening statements hours before the committee were to meet.

“It is incumbent on RTÉ to come before the committee on September 13 and the invites will be sent out today,” he told the Irish Examiner.

He said the committee needed to hear from the board around the adjustment to Ryan Tubridy’s salary and why supporting documents were absent when examining this.

The 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. 

The report found RTÉ had “in the balance of probabilities... made [adjustments] for the years 2017, 2018 and 2019 in order to allow for ‘revised earnings’ below a figure of €500,000 in each year”.

Politicians said they wanted to hear from RTÉ’s oversight board and members of the executive management team, particularly chief financial officer Richard Collins and director of human resources Eimear Cusack.

They are also keen to hear again from the board’s chairperson, Siún Ní Raghallaigh and all other members.

Unanswered questions

Committee chairperson Niamh Smyth said there were unanswered questions from the second Grant Thornton report into the understatement of fees paid to Mr Tubridy.

Mr Dillon also said it was crucial Deloitte’s reports are shared with the committee.

The Mayo TD also has called for an interim report from the forensic auditor, Mazars, to be given to the committee ahead of RTÉ staff appearing before the committee next month. The forensic accountant was tasked with examining RTÉ's controversial barter account.

Fianna Fáil senator Malcolm Byrne said the committee hopes to hear from Mr Bakhurst about how RTÉ is going about building public trust and to look at the extent of the financial challenges facing the national broadcaster.

He said: “The committee doesn’t intend to go back over old ground. We need to know what measures RTÉ are putting in place to rebuild public confidence.

“We had also been working on a report on future media funding which we will publish in the autumn. We don’t think Government can avoid the need to address the funding model any longer.”