The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has published its report outlining its verdict on the RTÉ debacle, including 21 pointers with a key emphasis on reincorporating the broadcaster within the supervisory ambit of the Comptroller and Auditor General (C&AG). With support from both government and opposition, PAC’s recurring role in overseeing RTÉ’s operations seems firmly established. Even as PAC’s present task of inspecting the controversy appears to be winding down, the broadcaster can anticipate sustained scrutiny from the committee in the near future. Consequently, their scheduled meetings are likely to become a staple on the political timetable.
Although many may regard the report’s suggestions as unspectacular, multiple committee members, during the launch on Tuesday, observed that such an assertion serves as criticism of former practices at RTÉ. New appointments to the board have been made concurrently as PAC’s findings indicate that the broadcaster might have intentionally obfuscated income metrics. Labour party member Alan Kelly drew attention to the fourth recommendation which stipulates that RTÉ’s raised invoices must accurately represent the associated goods and services, in light of Ryan Tubridy’s mislabelled payment as “consultancy services”. Kelly, and likewise Dun Laoighaire’s Fianna Fáil representative Cormac Devlin, expressed that many of the recommendations were astonishingly elementary in nature.
The report’s essence resides more in its conclusions than in its recommendations, allowing the committee to express itself with less restriction. Among these is the finding of an essential documented record of a meeting that sanctioned Mr. Tubridy’s payments, suggesting “a deliberate ploy to bypass common regulations and procedures by RTÉ and an intention to obscure the supposed underwriting of the engagement and payments to Mr. Tubridy”. The report further deduces that this memo seems to allude to a previous guarantee by ex-Director General Dee Forbes to ensure particular payments to Mr. Tubridy. However, since Ms. Forbes has not presented her response to the committee or the Oireachtas Media Committee, these conclusions remain uncontested.
The report scrutinises RTÉ following an incorrect disclosure of Mr Tubridy’s income, thereby insinuating that the broadcaster may have intentionally falsified its highest earners list, a subject that consistently attracts criticism. The conclusions held in the report suggest the use of the barter account aligns with the describing of a “slush fund” and the report demonstrates frustrations ensuing from the unwillingness of ex-chief financial officer Breda O’Keeffe, who exited with a €450,000 package, to testify, saying: “Ms O’Keeffe’s no-show is an impediment in settling particular inconsistencies in evidence submitted to the committee.”
The report collates a vast quantity of proof related to disparate facets of the controversy, consolidating it into a solitary document including extensive chronologies and a collection of pertinent primary sources. Nevertheless, the onus is on the broadcaster to demonstrate its evolution from the entity portrayed in the report and readiness for heightened scrutiny for the foreseeable future.
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