Irish Examiner view: Transparency is what we need now

Claire Byrne led the charge with salary declarations yesterday.

The muti-faceted and evolving scandal at RTÉ may yet have one obvious bonus for the taxpayer.

Following Claire Byrne’s unprompted and straightforward reveal of her remuneration package from the State broadcaster yesterday morning — followed by similar moves by Joe Duffy and Miriam O’Callaghan — the people who actually pay that salary finally got some true insight into pay scales and the reasons behind them.

An opaque and confusing system of what and how RTÉ’s ‘star’ presenters are paid has existed for years and the events of the past week have blown all that out of the water along, sadly, with the credibility of the organisation itself and the public’s trust in how it goes about its business.

The layers of public frustration about this scandal were multiplied over the weekend and capped off yesterday morningby the abrupt resignation of RTÉ director general Dee Forbes.

Ahead of Oireachtas committee hearings this week on the multifarious questions that remain unanswered in this unsavoury affair, her capitulation added further to the dismay and confusion surrounding the reality and methodology of the organisation’s way of doing business.

More pertinently, while the scandal has deeply affected public trust in RTÉ, it has also undermined the work of those hundreds of the broadcasters’ unheralded and hard-working staff who toil so diligently to provide unbiased and factual reportage on the news upon which so many depend for a responsible worldview.

Even so, it has been encouraging that the broadcaster has continued to report on this story from the outset in a thorough and impartial manner, despite an apparent lack of leadership. 

This week will hopefully provide us with some of the answers to those questions which have vexed us over the past few days. 

Worryingly, however, suggestions that what went on with Ryan Tubridy’s salary is only the tip of RTÉ’s remuneration iceberg, indicate there’s more to come here and other scandals may unfold.

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That Media Minister Catherine Martin has proposed an external review into the governance and culture within RTÉ is a good thing, but it will take months to reach conclusions. 

That RTÉ will release a full statement on the issues today is welcome too, but it may not answer all the questions which have arisen. An appearance by all the players involved here — including Dee Forbes — before the joint Oireachtas media committee and the joint Oireachtas committee and the Dáil public accounts committee later this week will be necessary to provide the answers the public needs and deserves.