Minister for Media Catherine Martin has told an Oireachtas committee that the former Chair of the RTÉ Board, Siún Ní Raghallaigh, had indicated she would resign if a letter was sent from the Department.Ms Martin faced questions at the media committee on the circumstances around the resignation of Ms Ní Raghallaigh last week.It emerged that before the minister appeared on RTÉ's Prime Time on Thursday night, she wanted to express her disappointment in a letter to Ms Ní Raghallaigh about being misinformed twice on whether the RTÉ board had approved the exit package for former chief financial officer Richard Collins.Ms Martin said Ms Ní Raghallaigh informed her department officials last Thursday that she was not prepared to accept a letter from the minister.The former chair "was indicating she might resign if I sent a letter", but Ms Martin said she was hopeful Ms Ní Raghallaigh would "reflect and think about having a meeting with me".Asked if she regretted that Ms Ní Raghallaigh resigned, the minister said that she wished that she had not been given incorrect information."I thought she was a great chair, but the crucial piece is I have to be in possession of the facts," Ms Martin said.The minister said that she did not believe Ms Ní Raghallaigh had intentionally lied to her, when she said she had inadvertently given the minister inaccurate information in two meetings that week, on the approval by the RTÉ Board of a severance package for former RTÉ chief financial officer Richard Collins.Pressed by Fianna Fáil Senator Shane Cassells on whether she felt she had been lied to, the minister said: "I do not believe it was intentional".However, she said it did not take away from the fact that there was inaccurate information given on "several occasions".The minister said she intends to have a good meeting with the RTÉ Board on Friday and that it will be a "future-looking" meeting.She said she has confidence "we can find a path forward" and that she has confidence in the reforms that are taking place.More importantly, she said, she had confidence in the absolute value in public service broadcasting.A number of committee members expressed no confidence in RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst, however when asked if she had confidence in him, she replied: "Yes".In her opening statement, Ms Martin told the committee she believed that being misinformed by Ms Ní Raghallaigh amounted to a concerning failure to provide "accurate and timely information" which merited "a formal and direct approach".Ms Martin told the committee that Ms Ní Raghallaigh contacted her last Thursday to say she had inadvertently given the minister inaccurate information in two meetings that week, on the approval by the board of a severance package for former RTÉ chief financial officer Richard Collins."The failure to provide accurate and timely information gave me considerable cause for concern. Regrettably, this was not the first time that the then-chair had failed to give me a clear account of her and the board's work at RTÉ."My relationship, as media minister, is through the chair. This relationship is fundamental to the development of a positive and productive future for the organisation."Ms Martin said she viewed the matter as meriting a "formal and direct approach" so she sought to meet the chair on Friday last to address the issues directly and openly.However, Ms Ní Raghallaigh resigned in the early hours of Friday morning after the minister failed to express confidence in her during an interview on RTÉ's Prime Time on Thursday night."Clearly, I would much prefer if I could have had that meeting with Siún Ní Raghallaigh on Friday and I do regret that she chose to resign rather than have that discussion."Ms Martin said that the two Government-commissioned reports into RTÉ have been delayed until March.She said the Review of Governance and Culture will shortly undergo fact-checking while the Review of Contractor Fees, HR and Other Matters will be finalised earlier.Ms Martin also said that she still intends to reform the TV licence fee system."I will not be deflected from the priority of delivering reform. I am determined that this will be the Government that decides on a sustainable funding model for public service media."Several Opposition parties had called for Ms Martin to answer questions in the Dáil.Statements on RTÉ are scheduled to take place in the Dáil today, however, the Opposition is unhappy that there will not be a chance to put questions to the minister.Ms Martin has said she was given incorrect information last week when she asked Ms Ní Raghallaigh if the exit payment for Mr Collins had got board approval.However, Ms Ní Raghallaigh did clarify the matter last Thursday morning and she had also informed the former secretary general of the Department of Media about the "process" as far back as last October.RTÉ has remained adamant that it was simply a case of some confusion arising from a question from the minister to Ms Ní Raghallaigh about the approval by the RTÉ Board of Mr Collins' exit."[RTÉ Director General] Kevin Bakhurst discussed this with the chair after the meeting and after checking the minutes of the Remuneration Committee, the chair moved swiftly to correct this detail with department officials on Thursday, and remind them that the correct process had been followed, and that the chair had previously informed the department of same," RTÉ said.Speaking in the Dáil, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said Ms Martin had badly mishandled the "RTÉ debacle" and had added to the chaos.She said it was not acceptable that the minister would not take questions in the Dáil.Labour leader Ivana Bacik and People Before Profit TD Richard Boyd Barrett also called on Ms Martin to respond to questions in the Dáil.Ms Bacik accused the Minister for Media of failing to have a plan after what she described as the "summary dismissal" of Ms Ní Raghallaigh on live television.Ms Bacik said Ms Ní Raghallaigh was a chair who was beginning to restore order to RTÉ.Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall said "it is obvious now" that Ms Martin "made a serious blunder" last Thursday.She added that it was unfortunate and regrettable that the former Department of Media Secretary General Katherine Licken did not attend the committee meeting.In a letter to the committee, Ms Martin's private secretary said it would not be appropriate for Ms Licken to attend as part of the department delegation as she is no longer a member of staff.They added that as a former officeholder, she would not have any standing to report to the committee "in relation to the agenda set out in the committee's letter".Yesterday, the Taoiseach reiterated his confidence in Ms Martin.Leo Varadkar said: "I think she was probably in a no-win situation. She felt that she couldn't fully rely on the information being given to her by the former chairperson of the board.The Taoiseach challenged the accusations that Ms Martin mishandled the situation."I don't think that's fair," he said. "Certainly the problems that exist in RTÉ are not Minister Martin's making by any means."And she's been working very hard over the past year to put things right. We do need to put things right because RTÉ is a really important institution, in my view."
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