Minister for Media Catherine Martin has reiterated her position that led to the resignation of RTÉ chairperson Siún Ní Raghallaigh.The Minister told a press briefing at Government Buildings this afternoon that she was "deeply disappointed" that the Chair "had not given her accurate information" in relation to exit packages for RTÉ executives.Ms Ní Raghallaigh stepped down after the Minister failed to express confidence in her during an interview on RTÉ's Prime Time last night.This evening, the RTÉ Board said it had requested a meeting with the Minister at the earliest opportunity.Ms Martin said the former Secretary General of her department has "no recollection" of being told that an exit package for former RTÉ CFO Richard 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 yesterday and today 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.The Minister said she had requested Director General Kevin Bakhurst and Ms Ní Raghallaigh to attend a meeting on Monday because she "wasn't aware" of the exit package for former director of strategy Rory Coveney."I had been told that that was a straight-forward resignation," she said."I also discovered at Monday's meeting that the Chair was aware that that wasn't a straight-forward resignation and it was something else that she had not told me," said Ms Martin.Minister Martin said she had asked Ms Ní Raghallaigh at two meetings on Monday and Wednesday of this week if she or the Board had played any role in approving either of the two recent severance packages to senior RTÉ executives.Ms Martin said Ms Ní Raghallaigh told her the board had not approved the exit packages on both days.However, the Minister said Ms Ní Raghallaigh contacted the Department of Media yesterday and said that "what she had told me on Monday and Wednesday was inaccurate".She said: "Ms Ní Raghallaigh said that she now remembered that the Remuneration Committee of the RTÉ Board, which she chaired, had met to approve the Richard Collins exit package last October."The fact that she contacted the Department with this information indicates she was aware she needed to correct the record."Ms Martin said she was "deeply disappointed" that Ms Ní Raghallaigh "had not given her accurate information".She said: "I believed the failure to properly answer my questions was so serious that it required a formal meeting."Ms Martin also said she "conveyed the situation to the coalition leaders on Thursday evening in order to keep them fully informed".She said it would have been her "preference not to deal with this matter live on air".The interview last night was pre-arranged and Ms Martin said: "Given how the situation had evolved yesterday and in the interests of transparency, I felt I had to address the matter."Ms Martin's comments follow a statement from the RTÉ Board this afternoon which said: "The Remuneration Committee met on October 9th 2023, to consider the recommendation arising from the mediation process relating to Richard Collins."The Director General attended that meeting. The recommendation was approved, by the Remuneration Committee, as is its delegated powers under its Terms of Reference.""The day after this meeting of the Remuneration Committee, October 10th 2023, Siún contacted the Secretary General of the Department directly by telephone and updated her about the meeting of the Remuneration Committee, and its outcome - i.e., that it approved an agreement with Richard Collins."The RTÉ Board was updated about this approval at its next meeting, October 26th. Approval by the full RTÉ Board was not required."Speaking to RTÉ's Six One later, Catherin Martin said that she will appoint a new RTÉ chairperson "as soon as possible" following Ms Ní Raghallaigh's resignation.The RTÉ Board said there will be a rotating Chair for the purpose of chairing meetings in the interim.Ms Martin also said it was not her intention to force Ms Ní Raghallaigh to resign despite failing to express confidence in her last night over information relayed about exit payments to executives.In an interview on Prime Time last night, the Minister expressed her "deep disappointment" with Ms Ní Raghallaigh.Following the interview, Ms Ní Raghallaigh said her position was "no longer tenable" because it was "abundantly clear" she had lost the confidence of Ms Martin.In her statement last night, Ms Ní Raghallaigh said she had not made an "intentional misrepresentation" to Ms Martin.She said: "Serving as Chair of the RTÉ Board is a privilege which requires the confidence of the Minister. It is abundantly clear that I no longer do."My resignation is a source of sadness to me, but it is unavoidable. There is a very urgent need for the funding model of RTÉ to be restored and for the transformation process to continue apace."I do not want this matter to distract from that. That must remain our unswerving collective objective."In a statement today, Mr Bakhurst said Ms Ní Raghallaigh had been "an excellent Chair" who would be "sorely missed".He said she had been a "great support to me throughout an incredibly challenging time for RTÉ"."Without Siún's experience, insight, guidance and optimism, beginning the process of meaningfully transforming RTÉ would have been a bigger challenge", Mr Bakhurst said.He praised "her integrity, hard work, commitment to public service".
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