RTÉ News: What are the PAC's 21 recommendations for RTÉ?

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The Dáil's Public Accounts Committee has published its report into governance and oversight at RTÉ.

The PAC report contains the following 21 recommendations regarding the broadcaster:

1. The Committee recommends that the Government brings RTÉ back under the statutory remit of the Comptroller and Auditor General.
2. The committee recommends that RTÉ ensures that no side deals that are commercial or otherwise, akin to that agreed in addition to Ryan Tubridy's 2020-2025 contract, are undertaken in relation to contracts for employees or contractors going forward. Furthermore, the committee recommends that staff at RTÉ must comply with codes of professional bodies of which they are a member.
3. To avoid management override by the Director General, Kevin Bakhurst, the committee recommends that RTÉ puts a policy into place to ensure that sign-off is required by the leadership team/management team with regard to the issuing of credit notes of significant value and any guarantees entered into with third parties.
4. The committee recommends that all invoices issued by RTÉ be clearly and accurately labelled as to the goods and services in respect of which they are issued.
5. The committee recommends that RTÉ introduces a written policy in relation to negotiations with presenters and/or their representatives, to ensure that: the leadership team and the appointed Board are fully informed of same, more than one member of the leadership team is involved in any such negotiation, negotiations are documented, meetings relating to negotiations are officially recorded and minuted by RTÉ, and legal advice is given in relation to such negotiations.
6. The committee recommends that RTÉ discloses in its financial statements the activity and revenues flowing through the barter account during the financial year in question, commencing with its 2023 financial statements.
7. The committee recommends that RTÉ implements, without delay, a register of gifts and that RTÉ furnishes the committee with a progress report on same, its new register of interests and its new register of external activities in June 2024.
8. The committee recommends that RTÉ develops a policy for its staff and contractors in relation to promotional work, and use of social media, and that RTÉ reports back to the committee on this matter in June 2024.
9. The committee recommends that RTÉ publishes the salary received by each member of staff at the broadcaster earning more than €150,000 per annum in its annual financial statements.
10. The committee recommends that RTÉ reports the exact amounts paid out to former members of staff, who received a lump sum of more than €150,000 upon their departure from the broadcaster, in its annual accounts going forward, without rounding the figure down or up.
11. The committee recommends that RTÉ puts in place a clear methodology in relation to how it enters into exit agreements with staff, and that such agreements are subject to Board oversight, with clear lines of communication to the Minister, which is recorded in writing.
12. The committee recommends that RTÉ ensures that the terms of any future exit agreements with staff do not contain any confidentiality clauses and that it be a condition of any exit agreement that the former employee must cooperate with any internal or external inquiries or investigations, including Oireachtas committees, and that such agreements align with the observations of the C&AG’s Special Report 91: Management of Severance Payments in Public Sector Bodies158 .
13. The committee recommends that the Audit and Risk Committee is sufficiently equipped to ensure it can effectively monitor and review the effectiveness of the internal audit function, and that it can evaluate the overall effectiveness of the internal control and risk management frameworks within RTÉ.
14. The committee recommends that the Audit and Risk Committee at RTÉ is fully briefed and appraised on a quarterly basis, on the financial aspects of projects at the broadcaster going forward, and that prudent financial controls are put in place for such projects to avoid further significant financial losses to RTÉ.
15. The committee recommends that RTÉ provides the committee with an update in June 2024 with regard to the investigation by the Scope section at the Department of Social Protection into the historic PRSI classification of workers at RTÉ, and any revisions to the estimated liability to the Department, including any settlements made to it.
16. The committee recommends that RTÉ keeps it informed on a quarterly basis regarding any further settlements with Revenue, in relation to the classification of workers at the broadcaster or any moneys paid to former members of staff.
17. The committee recommends that RTÉ provides a report to the committee in June 2024 detailing the cash reserves available to the broadcaster at the end of 2023, and progress made in stabilising the financial position at RTÉ, including the amount saved by the broadcaster in that period.
18. The committee recommends that the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media supplies the committee in August 2024 with the total amount lost to it between July 2023 and end-June 2024 in non-payment of TV Licence fees.
19. The committee recommends that RTÉ provides it with the total expenditure on the three reviews by Grant Thornton and the review by McCann FitzGerald that were commissioned by the broadcaster since March 2023.
20. The committee recommends that the Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, upon completion of all reviews commissioned into practices at RTÉ by the Department and/or the Minister for Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media since July 2023, provides it with the total expenditure on same.
21. The committee recommends that RTÉ furnishes the committee with a report in June 2024 detailing all changes made up to that point in the broadcaster in relation to improved governance, transparency of financial controls and practices, and accountability to the taxpayer at RTÉ.

The report concluded that it is possible that RTÉ deliberately misrepresented Ryan Tubridy's salary in its list of top ten earnings.

The report also concluded that the practice of offsetting exit fees from Mr Tubridy's earnings pointed to "a complete failure in financial controls".

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