The Oireachtas Media Committee is pursuing additional paperwork concerning a disputed telephonic communication between Siún Ní Raghallaigh, the former chair of RTÉ, and a high-ranking official from the Department of Arts and Media. A trove of documents was submitted to the committee by the department on Tuesday evening, predominantly concerning the circumstances leading up to Ms Ní Raghallaigh’s unexpected departure of last month. However, Brendan Griffin, the Fine Gael TD for Kerry, has requested the committee clerk for any supplementary records related to a conversation between Ms Ní Raghallaigh and Katherine Licken, the former secretary general of the department.
Ms Ní Raghallaigh claims to have informed the department during that phone call that the remuneration subcommittee of the RTÉ board had approved a departure arrangement for Richard Collins, its former chief finance officer – a detail which Ms Licken has stated no memory of. The past chair of the RTÉ board mistakenly informed Catherine Martin, the Minister for Arts and Media, that the board hadn’t sanctioned the exit package last month. This miscommunication resulted in the breakdown of their relationship and culminated in her stepping down.
Documents issued to the committee on Wednesday illustrate that Ms Ní Raghallaigh requested a telephonic conversation with Ms Martin on the night of February 22nd in the course of worsening situations, which was declined. Ms Martin expressed that she preferred a complete meeting with all officials in attendance. The Green Party’s deputy leader wrote a letter expressing her disappointment to Ms Ní Raghallaigh later that night, a fact she revealed during an interview on RTÉ’s Prime Time. The then-chair of RTÉ stated that she would vacate her post if such a disapproving letter were to be sent, interpreting it as a lack of confidence in her.
Catherine Martin disclosed earlier that there was no written record of the telephonic conversation held on budget day in October, but Brendan Griffin is urgently seeking any written evidence concerning the discussions.
According to documents, Ms Ní Raghallaigh and Ms Martin had 15 encounters post Ms Ní Raghallaigh’s appointment as RTÉ’s chair, seemingly refuting a claim made earlier this week by Ms Ní Raghallaigh that Ms Martin largely kept a distance and they had met only sparingly. There were substantial periods without interaction between some of these meetings – a notable gap of 11 weeks from 9th November 2023 to 23rd January this year. It is believed a meeting was planned during this interval but had to be called off, given the ongoing RTÉ findings were yet to be finished.
In a separate development, the new RTÉ chair, Terence O’Rourke, was elected bypassing the conventional Public Appointments Service (PAS) procedure. A department spokesperson confirmed that the rules regarding state board appointments “explicitly allow for exceptions to the regular Public Appointments Service processes, hence this procedure aligns with the guidelines”. The department refrained from commenting on which exact part of the rules permitted such an action. There was also mention of two other appointments to the RTÉ board this week that were made as per the PAS procedure.
The spokesperson disclosed that two external inspections of RTÉ are to be presented this month. The heads of these review groups briefed Ms Martin in the previous month. He revealed that a review of governance and culture would soon start the process of fact verification and ensuring correct procedure has been adhered to, taking several weeks.
Further, a different evaluation of contractor fees, HR and other matters has wrapped up its work programme, he mentioned, and is amid administrative processes ahead of formal presentation. No preliminary reports have been made available until now.
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