Fáiltím roimh an deis seo labhairt os comhair na Dála inniu. I welcome the opportunity to address Dáil Éireann today. This House first heard statements on the issues arising in RTÉ on 4 July last year. I said then that although I did not underestimate the difficult path that lay ahead for RTÉ, I was confident that trust could be restored if all involved demonstrated a commitment to the public good that ultimately lies at the heart of public service broadcasting. In that regard, I acknowledge at the outset that I am deeply appreciative of the dedication to public service shown by Siún Ní Raghallaigh as chair of the board of RTÉ and, in particular, the work she has done to address the crisis in RTÉ these past eight months.
Yesterday evening, I explained, in depth and for over three hours, the sequence of events that led to the resignation of the former chair to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sport and Media. I will seek to respond to the questions or points on the matter that Deputies make during the course of this debate. However, in the time I have in my opening statement, I intend to address the steps I have taken and intend to take to restore trust in RTÉ and to secure a sustainable future for the organisation and wider media sector.
Ever since I took up the office of Minister for Media in June 2020, I have been determined to put in place a robust legislative and administrative framework to ensure that our media sector is sustainable, resilient, pluralistic and, vitally and most importantly, capable of delivering reliable and trustworthy public service content for all of our people. On the legislative front, I introduced and ensured the enactment of the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022. Throughout the legislative process, I worked with Deputies and Senators from every party and none to improve the Act. Where I believed that Members of both Houses made valuable contributions, I brought forward amendments to give effect to their suggestions. The Act established a new regulatory framework for online safety, modernised the regulatory framework for the regulation of broadcasting and video-on-demand services and, crucially, established a new media regulator, Coimisiún na Meán, to oversee the expanded regulatory framework, promote the development of the wider media sector and regulate our public service broadcasters.
In September 2020, the Future of Media Commission was established to examine how our broadcast, print and online media can deliver public service aims over the next decade and beyond, with a particular remit to make recommendations on the role, financing and structure of RTÉ. The report of the commission was published in July 2022, and thereafter I brought forward a comprehensive implementation plan published by my Department in January 2023. Taken together, the recommendations of the Future of Media Commission and the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act 2022 provide the basis for a new framework to underpin the development of our media sector in the coming decades. Our statutory public service media bodies, namely RTÉ and TG4, sit at the centre of this framework.
We require independent and accountable public service media that are capable of fulfilling their statutory duty to provide broadcasting and other media services that have the fundamental character of a public service. That statutory duty has ensured that our public service media have long been an important source of trustworthy news, a role that has become more important given the current challenges of disinformation and misinformation. Our public service media have provided a space for our artists, writers and creative workers to share our distinctly Irish culture with Irish audiences. They also play a vital role in sustaining an Irish independent production sector capable of promoting Irish creative talent and developing films, television, radio and animation productions.
Given its vital importance to our society and the functioning of our democracy, I have been committed to putting in place a funding model for our public service media that provides stability and sustainability of funding while safeguarding editorial independence and commanding public support. As I set out to the House two weeks ago, the Government is committed to reform of the funding system during its term of office. I am more determined than ever to see this happen.
I have also been clear that public trust in RTÉ needs to be restored before a public funding model can be formally considered by Government. Trust is critical to public service media, not only trust between a broadcaster and its audience but also between an important national institution and the public and their representatives in the Oireachtas and Government. I do not think the public, Oireachtas or Government could agree to a new funding model for RTÉ without the assurance that there is a robust and appropriate governance framework in RTÉ and that issues relating to the engagement of presenters and contractors and the terms and conditions of RTÉ employees are being addressed. That is why, at the outset of the crisis in early July, I established two expert advisory committees to undertake reviews of governance and culture and of contractor fees, HR and other matters and appointed Mazars as forensic accountant to examine the RTÉ barter account and any other off-balance sheet accounts. The expert advisory committees are finalising their reports and I expect to receive them in March. Given their terms of reference, I expect they will contain a comprehensive list of recommendations on the steps that need to be taken to restore trust in RTÉ. The two reviews will provide a basis for further actions by RTÉ and, where appropriate, by my Department. As I have said, I see the merit of returning RTÉ to the authority of the Comptroller and Auditor General, but await the recommendations of the expert advisory committees with particular interest in that regard.
RTÉ has already commenced work on its reforms and has published a strategic vision for the period 2024 to 2028. I have stated that I welcome these reforms. However, further reform and transformation will be required. The rebuilding of trust will also be dependent on RTÉ demonstrating continued progress in the implementation of its own reforms and a commitment to implementing the recommendations of the expert advisory committees.
Following the publication of the reports of the expert advisory committees and an associated commitment to implementation of their recommendations by RTÉ, the Government will move to consider the funding model that best provides certainty, stability and sustainability, not only to RTÉ but to all those in the media sector who provide public service content to the public. Over the lifetime of this Government, I am determined that we will have put in place all of the necessary components to ensure a sustainable future for public service media in Ireland.
I would also like to address the circumstances that led to the resignation of the former chairperson of the RTÉ board. As has already been well documented, following the publication of a report into voluntary exit schemes at RTÉ, the director general provided some details at the media committee on the agreed exits of other senior executives in RTÉ over the past number of months. The director general was not in a position to provide detailed information on these agreements due to legal constraints. Having consistently called for maximum transparency on such matters, I asked the director general to seek updated legal advice which could pave the way for the disclosure of key details and provide maximum transparency.
In order to seek an update on this matter, I met the former chair and director general last week. Over the course of meetings on Monday and Wednesday, I also raised media reports indicating that the former chair had approved the severance package for the former director of strategy in RTÉ. I also asked for clarification with regard to the role of the board, if any, in approving the severance package for another member of staff, the former chief financial officer in RTÉ. The former chair advised that she had been aware that, in the case of Rory Coveney, this was an agreed exit and she acknowledged that I should have been apprised of this at the time. With regard to Richard Collins, the former chair advised that there was no board involvement, although she was fully aware of the matter. To address the earlier media reports, I felt it was important to clarify this point when speaking to the media on Monday, and I did so on the basis of the information provided to me by the former chair.
The director general and former chair wrote to me on Wednesday last week with the updated legal advice that RTÉ had received. That letter referred to board involvement "where relevant" in these processes, and I felt it necessary to seek further clarification on this matter. I was again advised that there was no board involvement in either the Rory Coveney or Richard Collins case, although the former chair pointed out in last Wednesday’s meeting that there would be in future in such cases or agreements.
Over the course of Thursday last, there was a series of communications with the former chair. Initially, this was to advise that what she had told me on Monday and Wednesday was incorrect, that she had made an error and that the remuneration committee of the RTÉ board, which she chaired, had met to approve the Richard Collins exit package last October. It was conveyed to Ms Ní Raghallaigh that I intended to write to her to express my disappointment at this. Over the course of the day, the former chair conveyed that such a letter and the suggestion of a meeting would not be welcomed and that, ultimately, she would have to consider her position if the issue was pressed. I felt it was still important enough to write to the former chair proposing a meeting in the expectation that the former chair would reflect on the matter and agree to meet.
As I have stated, I had previously agreed to appear on "Prime Time" last Thursday to discuss not only the future funding of RTÉ but also to address the question of seeking the maximum possible transparency with regard to severance agreements and payments. It became apparent shortly before my appearance that a number of media queries were being raised in relation to these matters. I believed that in the interests of transparency it was necessary for me to address this matter. However, I was still hopeful that former chair would accept my invitation to meet her.
I must emphasise the importance of a Minister maintaining complete confidence in the chair of a State body. This confidence was eroded, but I believed a meeting would help to restore it and this was my only motivation in seeking to fully address the events of last week.
