Catherine Martin 'doing her best' following resignation of RTÉ chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh
Media Minister Catherine Martin speaks during a press conference at the Government Buildings in Dublin. Picture date: Friday February 23, 2024.
Media Minister Catherine Martin has insisted she is "doing her best" in a very difficult situation after the resignation of RTÉ chair Siún Ni Raghallaigh.
Significant differences of opinion have emerged in the accounts provided by the board of RTÉ and the Minister around the circumstances of an exit package to former chief financial officer Richard Collins.
Ms Martin said she asked direct questions of Ms Raghallaigh during two meetings earlier this week but failed to get straight answers.
"I asked the chair at two meetings this week on Monday and again in detail on Wednesday, if she or the board played any role whatsoever in approving either of the two recent severance packages to senior RTÉ executives. I was told clearly that they did not - neither she nor the board."
Ms Martin said officials in her Department subsequently got a call on Thursday from Ms Ní Raghallaigh "saying that she had now remembered that that was inaccurate information. She had now remembered that the committee that she chaired had actually approved it".
The Minister added: "I knew that there had been a highly complex, independent mediation process. The issue is I wasn't informed that the board had a role in approving it."
She confirmed that she had been made aware on October 10, that the mediation with Mr Collins had been concluded and he had received an exit package after a phone call between the secretary general in her Department and Ms Ní Raghallaigh.
However, she continued to maintain that she was misled by Ms Ní Raghallaigh because she did not make it clear that she had a role in signing off on this package during meetings this week.
When it was suggested that she was taking the now former secretary general's word above Ms Ní Raghallaigh, Ms Martin said: "My secretary general remembers receiving the phone call and that she was informed that the independent mediation process, the process had completed. But she was not informed that there was an approval, an official approval by the board.
"It was Budget Day and she would have told me that the independent mediation process had concluded."
Ms Martin claimed there was no note taken of the phone call received by the secretary general because "it wasn't of significance," but added that if Ms Ní Raghallaigh had relayed that the board had signed off on the package, that would have been significant.
Asked if she is blameless in all of this, she said: "I am doing my best to manage a very difficult situation."
Earlier, Ms Martin said a former top level civil servant has “no recollection” of being told an exit package for an ex-senior RTÉ executive had been approved by the Board’s Remuneration Committee.
However, RTÉ have claimed the opposite and former chair Siún Ní Raghallaigh told the Secretary General of the Department of Media in October that it approved the exit package for former CFO Richard Collins.
The comments from the RTÉ Board came after it held an emergency meeting following Ms Ní Raghallaigh’s resignation on Thursday night.
Her resignation came following an interview on in which Ms Martin said Ms Ní Raghallaigh “misinformed” her on two occasions this week in regard to board approval of recent exit packages.
Addressing the media on Friday, Ms Martin said she wanted to clarify some of the events around RTÉ in recent days. She said she asked the now-former Chair at two meetings on Monday and Wednesday if she or the Board had played any role in approving either of two recent severance packages to senior RTÉ executives.
Ms Martin said: “Ms Ní Raghallaigh said that neither she nor the Board had played any role in approving it.
“On Thursday, Ms Ní Raghallaigh contacted the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, and said that what she had told me on Monday and Wednesday was inaccurate.
“Ms Ní Raghallaigh said that she now remembered that the Remuneration Committee of the RTÉ Board, which she chaired, had met to approve the Richard Collins exit package last October.
“The fact that she contacted the Department with this information indicates she was aware she needed to correct the record,” Ms Martin said.
Ms Martin said she was aware of suggestions that Ms Ní Raghallaigh had informed the former secretary general of the Department that the Board had approved the exit package for Richard Collins.
Ms Martin was referring to a statement by the RTÉ Board released today which said Ms Ní Raghallaigh told the Secretary General of the Department of Media in October that it approved the exit package for former CFO Richard Collins.
Ms Martin said she discussed the matter with the former secretary general on Thursday and again on Friday to see if this was the case.
She said: “She has been clear that while she was informed by phone that the independent mediation process on an exit package for Mr Collins had finally reached a conclusion, she has no recollection of being told that it was approved by the Board’s Remuneration Committee.”
Ms Martin said she is “deeply disappointed” that the Chair had not given her “accurate information when I raised it specifically on two occasions during the week.” She added: “I wrote to the Chair yesterday evening asking her for a meeting on Friday morning.
“I believed the failure to properly answer my questions was so serious that it required a formal meeting. I also conveyed the situation to the coalition leaders on Thursday evening in order to keep them fully informed,” she said.
Addressing criticism about her interview on PrimeTime last night in which she failed to express confidence twice in Ms Ní Raghallaigh, the minister said it would have been her preference not to deal with this matter live on air but it was a pre-arranged interview “and given how the situation had evolved yesterday and in the interests of transparency, I felt I had to address the matter.”
She said: “At all times, my focus has been on reforming RTÉ and ensuring that it and other public broadcasters are placed on a secure and sustainable position into the future. This is vital for both staff at the broadcaster and the wider viewing public.
“I will shortly receive the in-depth expert reports that I commissioned into how RTÉ operates and am determined to secure a Government decision on the future funding model for public service broadcasting in Ireland.” The media minister also said she wanted to place on the record her “genuine thanks and appreciation to Siún Ní Raghallaigh for her dedicated service and hard work as Chair of RTÉ at a time of unprecedented crisis for the organisation. Her commitment to RTÉ and to public service is deeply impressive,” she added.
Earlier on Friday, the RTÉ board said the remuneration committee met eight times in 2023.
Their statement read: “New terms of reference were introduced for the remuneration committee in September 2023.
“Since then, all changes to executive pay and terms must be approved by the remuneration committee. This was introduced as part of a wide range of measures to strengthen controls and fully restore public trust in corporate governance at RTÉ. The department was informed about these new terms of reference when they were introduced.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh was chair of the remuneration committee. The other members in 2023 were Anne O’Leary and Connor Murphy. Following Connor Murphy's resignation, Aideen Howard became a member.
The remuneration committee met on October 9m 2023, to consider the recommendation arising from the mediation process relating to Richard Collins. The director general attended that meeting. The recommendation was approved by the remuneration committee, as is its delegated powers under its terms of reference.
“The day after this meeting of the remuneration committee, October 10th, 2023, Siún contacted the secretary general of the department directly by telephone and updated her about the meeting of the remuneration committee, and its outcome — ie, that it approved an agreement with Richard Collins.
“The RTÉ board was updated about this approval at its next meeting, October 26th. Approval by the full RTÉ board was not required,” the statement read.
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