Enterprise Minister Simon Coveney has confirmed that he will continue to recuse himself from discussions regarding RTÉ despite his brother’s resignation from the embattled broadcaster.
Rory Coveney, the former Director of Strategy at RTE, resigned from his role on Sunday following controversy over the Toy Show the Musical flop.
He made the announcement the evening before the new Director General Kevin Bakhurst confirmed he was standing down the Executive Board in the wake of the Ryan Tubridy pay scandal.
READ MORE: What happens next for Ryan Tubridy and will he get RTE job back? Latest in secret payment scandal
Minister Coveney recused himself from Cabinet meetings while his brother Rory was on the board.
However, speaking at the Conrad Hotel on Wednesday, he confirmed that he will continue to do so.
“I'm not the minister with responsibility for RTÉ or media," he said.
“What we now have is a very robust committee system that has been trying to establish the truth and that process continues.
“We have a situation where the Government has agreed to put in place two separate external reviews of RTÉ, which will obviously progress now at pace.
“I think across government we want to see renewal in RTÉ that can ensure that public service broadcasting is enhanced and that we learn lessons from what we've witnessed over the last number of weeks and that in time RTÉ will be stronger for that.
“I think it's appropriate for me, given the fact that one of my siblings was on the executive board that I didn't and don't get involved in the public debates and discussions around the reform around RTÉ.”
It was pointed out to Minister Coveney that while he does not have responsibility for the media, he is the minister responsible for employment and there have been significant concerns raised about the working environment in RTÉ.
He told the Irish Mirror that he is concerned about the situation.
“I think everybody's concerned about the totality of what we've heard over the last number of weeks in the context of RTÉ and that's why I think there's such a fundamental process of change and reform now ongoing and I think we need to, as a Government, support that process.”
Rory Coveney had been criticised during appearances at the Oireachtas Media Committee over the failure of Toy Show the Musical in Dublin’s Convention Centre last Christmas.
The total cost of running the musical came in under budget at €2.7m. However, there were losses of €2.2m.
A spate of shows had to be cancelled, with just 27 of 54 planned performances going ahead.
Just 11,044 tickets were sold, with 9,218 being given away for free, with 59% of seats going unoccupied.
