KIlkenny TD calls for major changes in RTE

Fianna Fáil TD for Carlow-Kilkenny, John McGuinness, has called for independent auditors from outside the state to assess the ongoing financial situation in RTE.

Speaking in the Dáil recently, Mr. McGuinness said: ''Over the past ten years, every Government has failed to grasp the issue of audit. If we go back to the banking collapse and the financial crisis, the auditors said that the banks were okay; they were solvent. Two days later, we were all gone bust. Those same auditors are now being asked to look at RTÉ. Did we learn anything at all from them?. No, we did not.

We need to put in place mechanisms that will protect the workers and will ensure that any hard-nosed agent acting on behalf of anyone working with RTÉ is held to account. The question arising from that is, when did the negotiations take place. Who signed off on the agreement? Who signed off on the payments?''

The new director general of RTE, Kevin Bakhurst, has pledged to change and reform the broadcaster after what he called “one of the most shameful” moments in its history, committing to publishing the pay of the executives on his permanent “leadership team” annually, along with the top 10 presenters’ pay in RTE’s annual report.

Ryan Tubridy’s earnings have dominated the headlines in recent weeks, with the RTE presenter's income under-declared by 120,000 euro from 2017 to 2019.

At back to back Oireachtais meetings on Tuesday, Mr Tubridy claimed the misreporting was due to how RTE had logged a loyalty fee he had waived.

The Government has launched two external reviews into RTE, has announced a forensic accountant Mazars to look into RTE’s accounts, and has paused discussions on a new long-term funding arrangement for the broadcaster.