Opening Statement by Siún Ní Raghallaigh, Chair of the RTÉ Board, to the Public Accounts Committee

Cathaoirleach, Teachtaí Dála agus Seanadóirí, go raibh maith agaibh as an deis labhairt libh inniu.

At the outset, I wish to reiterate our profound regret regarding what has emerged in recent days. We know that RTÉ fell far short of the standards expected of us as an organisation.
We know this represents an egregious breach of trust with the public, for which we apologise. I am particularly aware today of the remit of the Public Accounts Committee, in ensuring accountability and transparency in how public bodies like RTÉ allocate, spend and manage their finances. You are charged with ensuring that the taxpayer receives value for money for every euro spent by such bodies.

Given your mission of guardianship of the public purse, the failures that have come to light on RTÉ’s part must be truly shocking to you, as they are to me. This was a particular breach of trust with you, the elected members of the Public Accounts Committee – with a central role in Irish public life – and this is something for which we sincerely apologise.

We are completely committed to rebuilding trust with you and with other public representatives. That is the least we can do. We also welcome the role that the PAC has now been afforded to examine expenditure by RTÉ and will work closely with the Committee in this regard.

As a trained accountant and a former financial controller, I am appalled as to how payments were recorded and presented in the RTÉ accounts. What was the motivation here? It appears to me that this was an act designed to deceive.

The forthcoming external government review will look at matters of culture and governance. This is welcome. But in the short term that is not enough. Every day that passes can further erode confidence in an institution that is a cornerstone of this State. The RTÉ Board is the governing authority of RTÉ. The role of the Board is to guide the corporate direction and strategy of RTÉ and represent the interests of viewers, listeners and staff, ensuring that RTÉ fulfils its statutory responsibilities in an efficient and effective manner. We work independent of the Executive Board.

As such the Board of RTÉ is taking a lead in driving the following five objectives, supported by outside expertise as required:

• Establishing the Facts – from the moment the board was informed of a potential problem, we have worked to establish the facts. Within days of receiving the first Grant Thornton report, we published the details. We have since published the first Grant Thornton. And we commit to publishing the second Grant Thornton report as soon as possible. Accountants from Grant Thornton are currently on site in RTE. I, and the board, would also urge Dee Forbes to appear before this committee when she is able to do so.
• Cultural Transformation – Yesterday at the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Tourism, Culture, Arts, Sports and Media I stated that in an organisation culture comes from the top down. The culture of an organisation permeates its leadership and decision-making processes. RTÉ produces excellent journalism and creative content but specific cultural issues around information silos, domineering hierarchies that shun transparency and foster bureaucracy are all too evident. The Board will lead on addressing this.
• Internal Controls – This series of events has revealed grave failings in internal controls at RTÉ. Nothing less than an overhaul of such controls and work practices will now suffice, and the Board will oversee this process.
• Examining How RTÉ Spends Its Money – We need to stand back and examine how RTÉ manages its money. This should start with a review of the highest paid in the organisation. We will also look at those areas in which expenditure can be strengthened in pursuit of public service broadcasting such as RTE’s digital capabilities.
• Future Strategy – this crisis has placed RTÉ in a dangerous place – the Board, working with the organisation, will map out a future strategy to bring this organisation to a safer haven, an organisation that delivers the best in public service broadcasting, trusted by the public and employees alike. We need to strike that careful balance in achieving an organisation that can blend the agility needed to provide a public broadcasting service in an ever changing market while also having the controls and governance standards of an entity funded by the tax payer.

Finally, can I say something about the use of the word ‘talent’. Words matter and the term, as it is currently used, reinforces a ‘them and us’ culture in RTÉ. It implies some have greater worth than others. The first step in cultural change is to consign this term to the dustbin.

I wish to restate the fact that over 1800 people work for RTÉ and I apologise to each and every one of them for the distress they are experiencing. Together we have a job of work to do in to restore their confidence.