Media Committee to question RTÉ about €3.6m write-down of partly abandoned IT project

New chair of the committee, Alan Kelly, also spoke with RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst about the national broadcaster's intervention on Israel's participation in the Eurovision

Last week, RTÉ confirmed that 'issues arose almost immediately' with a contract entered into to replace 'five disparate, legacy systems that were used for finance and HR which were at or near end of life' forcing the broadcaster to ultimately terminate the project. File photo

RTÉ is to be the first organisation to appear before the Media Committee as politicians are eager to get into the "nitty gritty detail" of a €3.6m write-down of a partly failed IT project and other issues at the broadcaster.

New chair of the committee, Alan Kelly, held a "frank" meeting with RTÉ director general Kevin Bakhurst during which future funding was discussed, as well as the national broadcaster's intervention on Israel's participation in the Eurovision.

RTÉ has written to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ask for a “discussion” on Israel’s inclusion in the contest in May.

Mr Bakhurst said: "It is a very complicated issue, and I'm very well aware that a number of members would not be in favour of excluding Israel. That's not the point. It needs to be raised in my view as a point of discussion."

Asked if RTÉ would pull out of the contest, he said: “No, absolutely, (we) won’t pull out of it.”

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Speaking after the meeting, Mr Kelly said his committee will also be inviting senior department officials to appear before it with RTÉ as serious questions remain over who knew what and when in relation to a multi-million euro write-down.

Last week, RTÉ confirmed that "issues arose almost immediately" with a contract entered into to replace "five disparate, legacy systems that were used for finance and HR which were at or near end of life" forcing the broadcaster to ultimately terminate the project.

Mr Bakhurst first became aware of the issue in March of this year.

Mr Kelly said:

He was aware that there was no HR system, which he found ridiculous. 

"He was aware that there was a cost in relation to the finance system, but he wasn't aware of the level of impairment in any way, shape or form. I take his word at that."

However, the Labour TD suggested that others within RTÉ knew about the €3.6m write-down as far back as 2021, which now must be explained. He claimed that "civil servants were aware of this issue, but nobody brought it to anyone's attention".

"It does also raise issues about how these accounts were presented because you couldn't actually see this impairment. But it really raises questions about issues in the department itself as to why somebody hadn't informed the minister in relation to this, because there must have been institutional knowledge within the department about it.

"Obviously there's a massive issue here in relation to the department, who knew what?"