The Minister for Media will appear before an Oireachtas committee next week to answer questions on the fallout from the resignation of the chair of the RTÉ Board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, in the early hours of yesterday morning.The Oireachtas Committee on Media will hold a special three-hour session on Tuesday evening to examine the controversy.Ms Ní Raghallaigh resigned a few hours after Minister Catherine Martin on Thursday declined to express confidence in her in an interview on RTÉ's Prime Time.Opposition parties have severely criticised the minister's handling of the crisis with Labour accusing her of engaging in "summary dismissal" of Ms Ní Raghallaigh.Party leader Ivana Bacik has said the minister's position is not tenable.Last night, Minister Martin spoke to RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst and the minister's spokesperson said both are absolutely committed to work together to chart a path forward for RTÉ.Meanwhile, there is a conflict between RTÉ's board and the minister over how much was conveyed to the Department of Media about the approval of an exit package for former chief financial officer Richard Collins.The board has asked to meet the minister and it is understood that meeting will take place next week.Efforts are also under way for the minister to appoint a new chair to the broadcaster, but it is not clear how soon that may happen.Minister Martin failed to express confidence in Ms Ní Raghallaigh during the Prime Time interview, claiming she had been "misinformed" on two occasions this week regarding the board's approval of recent exit packages.In a statement, Ms Ní Raghallaigh said there was no intentional misrepresentation and the minister's department had been contacted about the exit arrangements for Mr Collins last October.The RTÉ Board has said it will continue to discharge its duties and has requested a meeting with Minister Martin at the earliest opportunity.Ms Martin said yesterday that the former Secretary General of her department has "no recollection" of being told that an exit package for Mr Collins was approved by the RTÉ Board.Minister Martin said she was aware of suggestions that Ms Ní Raghallaigh had informed the department that the board had approved the package for Mr Collins.However, Ms Martin said she discussed the matter with the former secretary general to check if this was the case.She said: "She [former secretary general] has been clear that while she was informed by phone that the independent mediation process on an exit package for Mr Collins had finally reached a conclusion, she has no recollection of being told that it was approved by the board's remuneration committee."The former secretary general remembers receiving a phone call from Ms Ní Raghallaigh that the independent mediation process had been completed into two exit packages.''She was not informed that there was an official approval by the board,'' Ms Martin added.
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