Staff at the Irish national broadcaster are “gravely disturbed” by the findings of a report into financial practices at RTE, according to a group of trade unions.
The highly anticipated report found it is “very plausible” that fees paid by RTE to its star presenter Ryan Tubridy were underdeclared by 120,000 euro from 2017-2019 to keep his publicly stated earnings under the 500,000 euro mark.
The executive of the RTE Trade Union Group (TUG) said the report “gives rise to a number of questions about corporate governance failures” as well as the role of auditor Deloitte.
I think this is an arrow through the heart of the relationship between management and staff— NUJ Irish secretary Seamus Dooley
The TUG said there were also questions about how the national broadcaster engaged with its own workers, trade unions and the board.
A spokesman said: “Trust is the cornerstone of good governance. It is also at the heart of the relationship between management and unions.
“We hope that the reviews on corporate governance and HR established by the government will provide the framework for dealing with the fundamental issues in the report.
“The trust that was shattered will not be easy to rebuild and trade unions will judge RTE by the actions and attitude of the management and board of RTE from today.”
My door is always open— Chairwoman of RTE board Siun Ni Raghallaigh
Seamus Dooley, the Irish secretary of the National Union of Journalists, told RTE’s News At One radio programme that his “worst suspicions” had been confirmed by the report.
“I think this is an arrow through the heart of the relationship between management and staff.”
He said there had been a “deliberate attempt to conceal the truth”.
Mr Dooley said: “I walked the short journey across the campus here and people are in a state of complete anger.”
Chairwoman of the RTE board Siun Ni Raghallaigh told the same programme: “I would hope that staff would now see the changes that particularly the board has instigated and wants to bring about.
“I have said to staff and I have met the trade union group and I’ve said: ‘My door is always open’.
“I would hope that they will see, gradually, the change in culture and the openness and transparency that we want to bring into the organisation and I have a lot of faith in our new director-general Kevin Bakhurst and his team that they will carry through on that.”
